Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Sarawak

For one person, living is cheaper in Sarawak: $954 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $15,100 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
45

Cost of Living Index in Sarawak
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Sarawak Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Sarawak

🇲🇾 Malaysia

$954

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Sarawak

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $954 in Sarawak.

Lisbon $2,210
Sarawak $954

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,408 in Sarawak.

Lisbon $3,275
Sarawak $1,408

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $1,862 in Sarawak.

Lisbon $4,341
Sarawak $1,862

Living in Lisbon is roughly 132% more expensive than in Sarawak, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Sarawak is 30% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.85

$3.58 MYR 14.58

365.08%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.1

$19.96 MYR 81.2

209.32%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.13

$4.70 MYR 19.15

141.70%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.65

$2.96 MYR 12.05

0.34%

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

$2.29 €2.04

$0.77 MYR 3.12

197.40%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.55

$0.39 MYR 1.59

346.15%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.04

$3.95 MYR 16.07

-13.92%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.95

$4.57 MYR 18.61

-27.57%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.03

$1.75 MYR 7.12

-33.71%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.71

$1.22 MYR 4.97

56.56%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.35

$1.36 MYR 5.52

11.03%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.59

$2.26 MYR 9.19

77.88%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.54

$14.46 MYR 58.9

-10.51%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.94

$4.07 MYR 16.57

90.91%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.85

$9.85 MYR 40.09

80.30%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.06

$2.90 MYR 11.80

-20.69%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.55

$1.45 MYR 5.88

19.31%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.66

$2.38 MYR 9.71

-21.85%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.31

$1.31 MYR 5.33

97.71%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.62

$1.23 MYR 5.02

47.97%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$1.24 MYR 5.06

58.87%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$1.11 MYR 4.50

32.43%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$0.46 MYR 1.89

56.52%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.87

$4.27 MYR 17.39

54.10%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.00

$16.86 MYR 68.6

-66.73%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$2.93 MYR 11.93

-53.58%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.91

$4.03 MYR 16.39

-46.90%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.08

$0.75 MYR 3.04

210.67%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €39.86

$10.56 MYR 43.00

323.11%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.43

$1.12 MYR 4.55

243.75%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.95

$0.51 MYR 2.08

109.80%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.69

$6.93 MYR 28.19

137.52%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.96

$0.77 MYR 3.15

185.71%

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

$34.2K €30.5K

$50.4K MYR 205.0K

-32.12%

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

$38.7K €34.5K

$39.9K MYR 162.3K

-2.89%

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

$161 €144

$52.9 MYR 215

204.59%

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

$18.41 €16.43

$10.66 MYR 43.39

72.70%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.21

$29.13 MYR 119

12.39%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €39.74

$40.05 MYR 163

11.24%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.04

$7.22 MYR 29.40

164.54%

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.56

$5.60 MYR 22.81

71.43%

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

$668 €596

$241 MYR 980

177.18%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.7K

$6,956 MYR 28.3K

153.22%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.0

$58.1 MYR 236

75.75%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.67

$29.97 MYR 122

48.35%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €87.9

$87.0 MYR 354

13.26%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €110

$75.9 MYR 309

62.96%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,435

$410 MYR 1,668

292.57%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,062

$318 MYR 1,296

273.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,509

$704 MYR 2,867

299.27%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,796

$491 MYR 1,998

310.07%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €6,994

$2,170 MYR 8,832

261.28%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,082

$1,323 MYR 5,387

245.73%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,405

$349 MYR 1,419

351.84%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

4.06

-5.17%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Sarawak: October 24, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Sarawak

$318 33.4% 73.2% $872

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Sarawak

$249 26.1% 8.5% $23

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Sarawak

$112 11.7% 53.9% $131

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Sarawak

$93 9.7% 56.3% $120

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Sarawak

$113 11.8% 31.9% $53

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Sarawak

$51 5.4% 19.6% $12

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Sarawak

$17 1.8% 72.7% $46

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $410 in Sarawak. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays about 4.5 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $20 in Sarawak for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $272 vs $249 per month, with Sarawak cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇲🇾 Sarawak

🕒 Local time

18:59 6:59 PM

02:59 2:59 AM

8 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

Euro EUR €

Malaysian Ringgit MYR RM

📈 Exchange rate

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

1 MYR = 0.246 USD

1 MYR = 0.22 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

MYR, USD to EUR – Euro Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇪🇺 Euro (€)

Euro exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

Malaysian Ringgit exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 4.07 MYR (1 MYR = 0.246 USD). 1 EUR = 4.54 MYR (1 MYR = 0.22 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Sarawak 12,390 km ≈ 16 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Sarawak

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 Sarawak: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $954 in Sarawak, so Sarawak is about 57% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay in Lisbon is about 4.5 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 $410 in Sarawak. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $668 in Lisbon versus $241 in Sarawak. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 9% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $954 in Sarawak versus $2,210 in Lisbon, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Sarawak but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Sarawak 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 Sarawak are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

Expats usually find Sarawak gentler on the wallet – expenses run 57% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.