Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Salwa

For one person, living is cheaper in Salwa: $1,325 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $10,600 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
64

Cost of Living Index in Salwa
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Salwa Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Salwa

🇰🇼 Kuwait

$1,325

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Salwa

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $1,325 in Salwa.

Lisbon $2,210
Salwa $1,325

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $2,235 in Salwa.

Lisbon $3,275
Salwa $2,235

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $3,145 in Salwa.

Lisbon $4,341
Salwa $3,145

Living in Lisbon is roughly 67% more expensive than in Salwa, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in groceries.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Salwa is 3% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.95

$12.61 KWD 3.89

32.04%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.5

$64.1 KWD 19.74

-3.65%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.20

$6.53 KWD 2.01

73.97%

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.28 KWD 1.01

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$4.80 KWD 1.48

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.67

$5.25 KWD 1.62

-43.43%

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

$2.29 €2.06

$0.49 KWD 0.15

367.35%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.56

$0.29 KWD 0.09

500.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.06

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.97

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.04

$1.59 KWD 0.49

-27.04%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.72

$0.69 KWD 0.21

176.81%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.36

$0.76 KWD 0.23

98.68%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.61

$1.96 KWD 0.60

105.10%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.62

$4.23 KWD 1.30

205.91%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.98

$6.60 KWD 2.03

17.73%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.95

$10.32 KWD 3.18

72.09%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.07

$2.48 KWD 0.76

-7.26%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.56

$1.94 KWD 0.60

-10.82%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.67

$1.87 KWD 0.58

-0.53%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.33

$0.84 KWD 0.26

208.33%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.64

$0.66 KWD 0.20

175.76%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.77

$1.49 KWD 0.46

32.21%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.32

$2.26 KWD 0.70

-34.96%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$0.49 KWD 0.15

46.94%

Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)

$3.27 KWD 1.01

Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.01 KWD 0.31

Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.45 KWD 0.45

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.91

$2.68 KWD 0.83

145.52%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.04

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.92

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.10

$0.82 KWD 0.25

184.15%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €40.14

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.46

$3.30 KWD 1.02

16.67%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.96

$3.17 KWD 0.98

-66.25%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.79

$16.05 KWD 4.94

2.55%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.98

$0.33 KWD 0.10

566.67%

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

$34.2K €30.7K

$23.6K KWD 7,275

44.81%

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

$38.7K €34.8K

$17.6K KWD 5,426

119.88%

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

$161 €145

$65.8 KWD 20.26

145.13%

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

$18.41 €16.54

$22.27 KWD 6.86

-17.33%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.41

$30.05 KWD 9.26

8.95%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €40.02

$98.2 KWD 30.24

-54.61%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.16

$9.90 KWD 3.05

92.93%

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.62

$13.08 KWD 4.03

-26.61%

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

$668 €600

$495 KWD 152

34.94%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.8K

$9,455 KWD 2,913

86.30%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.6

$37.43 KWD 11.53

172.56%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.94

$39.86 KWD 12.28

11.54%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €88.5

$80.9 KWD 24.92

21.81%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €111

$64.3 KWD 19.80

92.42%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,445

$807 KWD 249

99.39%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,069

$608 KWD 187

95.74%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,526

$1,745 KWD 538

61.16%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,808

$1,358 KWD 418

48.27%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €7,042

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,110

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,415

$3,543 KWD 1,092

-55.54%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

6.53

-41.04%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Salwa: October 27, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Salwa

$608 45.9% 48.9% $582

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Salwa

$166 12.5% 39.1% $106

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Salwa

$187 14.1% 23.1% $56

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Salwa

$118 8.9% 44.4% $94

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Salwa

$100 7.6% 39.7% $66

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Salwa

$124 9.4% 95% $61

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Salwa

$22 * 1.7% 64.5% $41

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 $807 in Salwa. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Salwa pays about 2.2 times 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 $64 in Salwa. Groceries flip the comparison at $272 vs $166, with Salwa cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇰🇼 Salwa

🕒 Local time

17:40 5:40 PM

20:40 8:40 PM

3 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

40,945

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Kuwaiti Dinar KWD د.ك

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.11 USD

1 KWD = 3.25 USD

1 KWD = 2.92 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

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Between locations

Lisbon Salwa 5,290 km ≈ 7 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Salwa

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 Salwa: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Lisbon and Salwa differ by about 67% in total monthly costs ($2,210 vs $1,325 including rent). Salwa is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 56% 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 $807 in Salwa. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Supermarket bills run roughly 64% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

All in, you’ll spend $2,210 per month in Lisbon versus $1,325 in Salwa – a 67% gap that adds up to real savings over time for anyone picking the cheaper option.

At $1,325 in Salwa versus $2,210 in Lisbon, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Salwa but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Salwa 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.

Safety-wise, Lisbon and Salwa are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.