Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Damascus

For one person, living is cheaper in Damascus: $870 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $16,100 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
42

Cost of Living Index in Damascus
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Damascus Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Damascus

🇸🇾 Syria

$870

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Damascus

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 Damascus actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $870 in Damascus.

Lisbon $2,210
Damascus $870

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,410 in Damascus.

Lisbon $3,275
Damascus $1,410

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $1,951 in Damascus.

Lisbon $4,341
Damascus $1,951

Living in Lisbon is roughly 154% more expensive than in Damascus, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Damascus is 36% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.91

$10.19 SYP 1,238

63.40%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.3

$43.30 SYP 5,262

42.59%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.17

$6.80 SYP 827

67.06%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.66

$3.79 SYP 461

-21.64%

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

$2.29 €2.05

$2.28 SYP 277

0.44%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$0.81 SYP 98.9

114.81%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.05

$1.93 SYP 235

76.17%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.96

$4.05 SYP 493

-18.27%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$1.10 SYP 134

5.45%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.71

$0.39 SYP 47.14

389.74%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.35

$1.52 SYP 185

-0.66%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.60

$1.56 SYP 190

157.69%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.59

$4.01 SYP 488

222.69%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.96

$5.61 SYP 682

38.50%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.91

$14.05 SYP 1,707

26.41%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.06

$1.07 SYP 130

114.95%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.55

$1.41 SYP 171

22.70%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.66

$1.09 SYP 132

70.64%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.32

$1.05 SYP 128

146.67%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.63

$0.80 SYP 97.0

127.50%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$0.76 SYP 92.9

159.21%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$0.40 SYP 49.10

267.50%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$0.62 SYP 75.3

16.13%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.90

$2.72 SYP 331

141.91%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.02

$5.98 SYP 727

-6.19%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$1.09 SYP 133

24.77%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.91

$2.94 SYP 358

-27.21%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.09

$0.21 SYP 25.46

1009.52%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.01

$10.15 SYP 1,233

340.20%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.45

$1.02 SYP 124

277.45%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$1.53 SYP 186

-30.07%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.74

$7.90 SYP 961

108.35%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.97

$3.68 SYP 447

-40.22%

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

$34.2K €30.6K

$15.1K SYP 1.8M

126.23%

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

$38.7K €34.7K

$18.9K SYP 2.3M

105.19%

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

$161 €144

$140 SYP 17.0K

15.33%

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

$18.41 €16.49

$9.39 SYP 1,141

96.06%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.32

$45.50 SYP 5,529

-28.04%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €39.90

$27.57 SYP 3,351

61.59%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.10

$8.41 SYP 1,022

127.11%

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.60

$5.46 SYP 663

75.82%

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

$668 €598

$65.4 SYP 7,952

920.29%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$1,770 SYP 215.1K

895.22%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.4

$28.26 SYP 3,434

261.00%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.82

$40.49 SYP 4,921

9.80%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.2

$59.7 SYP 7,253

65.04%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$58.6 SYP 7,117

111.19%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,440

$516 SYP 62.7K

211.78%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,066

$186 SYP 22.6K

539.55%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,519

$846 SYP 102.8K

232.52%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,803

$462 SYP 56.2K

335.51%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,021

$1,713 SYP 208.2K

357.51%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,098

$598 SYP 72.6K

665.58%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,411

$79.5 SYP 9,665

1880.12%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

14.25

-72.98%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Damascus: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Damascus

$186 21.4% 84.4% $1K

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Damascus

$169 19.5% 37.9% $103

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Damascus

$178 20.4% 26.8% $65

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Damascus

$195 22.4% 8.3% $18

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Damascus

$84 9.7% 49.3% $82

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Damascus

$38 4.4% 39.6% $25

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Damascus

$20 2.3% 68.9% $44

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $516 in Damascus. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays about 20 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $43 in Damascus for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $169 per month, with Damascus cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇸🇾 Damascus

🕒 Local time

17:00 5:00 PM

20:00 8:00 PM

3 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

1,414,913 Capital

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Syrian Pound SYP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1,000 SYP = 8.23 USD

1,000 SYP = 7.37 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

SYP, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

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

Syrian Pound exchange rates as of November 1, 2026: 1 USD = 122 SYP (1,000 SYP = 8.23 USD). 1 EUR = 136 SYP (1,000 SYP = 7.37 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

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Between locations

Lisbon Damascus 4,080 km ≈ 6 h nonstop flight

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Damascus

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 Damascus: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $870 in Damascus, so Damascus is about 61% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Lisbon is about 20 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,608 in Lisbon versus $516 in Damascus. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Dining out is cheaper in Damascus – a meal for two runs $43 versus $62 in Lisbon. If you eat out regularly, this makes a real dent in your monthly spending.

All in, you’ll spend $2,210 per month in Lisbon versus $870 in Damascus – Damascus is about 61% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.

At $870 in Damascus versus $2,210 in Lisbon, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Damascus but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Damascus the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

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.

Expats usually find Damascus gentler on the wallet – expenses run 61% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.