Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Chiayi

For one person, living is cheaper in Chiayi: $1,041 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $14,000 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
50

Cost of Living Index in Chiayi
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Chiayi Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Chiayi

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,041

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Chiayi

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Lisbon and in Chiayi actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $1,041 in Chiayi.

Lisbon $2,210
Chiayi $1,041

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,471 in Chiayi.

Lisbon $3,275
Chiayi $1,471

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $1,901 in Chiayi.

Lisbon $4,341
Chiayi $1,901

Living in Lisbon is roughly 112% more expensive than in Chiayi, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Chiayi is 24% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.92

$4.59 NT$150

262.75%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.3

$46.34 NT$1,511

33.23%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.18

$5.65 NT$184

101.06%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.66

$3.29 NT$107

-9.73%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.29 €2.05

$0.85 NT$27.72

169.41%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$0.67 NT$21.81

159.70%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.05

$2.98 NT$97.2

14.09%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.97

$3.58 NT$117

-7.54%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$2.95 NT$96.2

-60.68%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.71

$1.95 NT$63.5

-2.05%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.36

$3.05 NT$99.5

-50.49%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.60

$2.63 NT$85.8

52.85%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.59

$18.97 NT$619

-31.79%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.97

$9.89 NT$322

-21.44%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.92

$21.28 NT$694

-16.54%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.06

$4.72 NT$154

-51.27%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.55

$3.28 NT$107

-47.26%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.66

$2.87 NT$93.5

-35.19%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.32

$4.23 NT$138

-38.77%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.63

$2.65 NT$86.2

-31.32%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$2.20 NT$71.6

-10.45%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$1.72 NT$56.1

-14.53%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$1.12 NT$36.48

-35.71%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.90

$3.75 NT$122

75.47%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.02

$4.48 NT$146

25.22%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$1.58 NT$51.4

-13.92%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.91

$2.13 NT$69.5

0.47%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.09

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.04

$12.12 NT$395

268.65%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.45

$2.54 NT$82.8

51.57%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$0.45 NT$14.70

137.78%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.75

$8.97 NT$292

83.50%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.97

$1.00 NT$32.62

120.00%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$34.2K €30.6K

$34.1K NT$1.1M

0.36%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$38.7K €34.7K

$23.5K NT$765.9K

64.86%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$161 €144

$64.7 NT$2,108

149.33%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$18.41 €16.50

$17.55 NT$572

4.90%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.34

$26.76 NT$872

22.35%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €39.92

$30.55 NT$996

45.83%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.11

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.60

$9.62 NT$314

-0.21%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$668 €598

$712 NT$23.2K

-6.28%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$16.1K NT$525.9K

9.22%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.4

$62.2 NT$2,027

64.07%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.85

$39.01 NT$1,272

13.97%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.3

$82.8 NT$2,698

19.05%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$102 NT$3,317

21.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,441

$374 NT$12.2K

329.61%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,066

$244 NT$7,940

388.69%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,520

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,804

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,025

$3,070 NT$100.1K

155.37%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,100

$1,843 NT$60.1K

148.32%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,411

$2,038 NT$66.4K

-22.72%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

2.4

60.42%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Chiayi: October 25, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Chiayi

$244 23.4% 79.5% $947

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Chiayi

$372 35.7% 36.4% $99

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Chiayi

$121 11.7% 50% $121

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Chiayi

$109 10.5% 48.7% $103

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Chiayi

$129 12.4% 22.5% $37

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Chiayi

$50 4.8% 21.9% $14

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Chiayi

$17 * 1.6% 73.2% $46

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $374 in Chiayi. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Chiayi pays 29% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $46 in Chiayi. Groceries flip the comparison at $272 vs $372, with Lisbon cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇹🇼 Chiayi

🕒 Local time

11:08 11:08 AM

19:08 7:08 PM

8 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

269,874

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

New Taiwan Dollar TWD NT$

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

100 TWD = 3.07 USD

100 TWD = 2.75 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

TWD, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.896 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 32.61 TWD (100 TWD = 3.07 USD). 1 EUR = 36.39 TWD (100 TWD = 2.75 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Chiayi 11,340 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Chiayi

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Lisbon vs Chiayi: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Chiayi wins on cost – living expenses run 53% lower than in Lisbon. Housing and daily spending are where you’ll feel the difference most, making Chiayi the obvious pick if budget is a priority.

On paper, salaries run 23% lower in Lisbon. That’s worth factoring in alongside costs, though remote workers earning in a stronger currency may not notice the difference at all.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,608 in Lisbon versus $374 in Chiayi. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

All in, you’ll spend $2,210 per month in Lisbon versus $1,041 in Chiayi – Chiayi is about 53% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

A monthly transit pass in Chiayi runs roughly 73% less than in Lisbon. The price difference matters if you commute daily and watch your budget.

Both cities are expensive relative to $1,000. Chiayi is the more realistic option, but even there you’ll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Lisbon and Chiayi are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.