Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Lisbon and Tainan

For one person, living is cheaper in Tainan: $1,148 a month against $2,210 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $12,700 less a year. Higher rent and utilities in Lisbon outweigh lower spending on other living expenses.

107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index
56

Cost of Living Index in Tainan
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Tainan Living Index

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Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,210

/mo nomad

Tainan

🇹🇼 Taiwan

$1,148

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Lisbon and in Tainan

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,210 in Lisbon versus $1,148 in Tainan.

Lisbon $2,210
Tainan $1,148

Estimated couple costs with rent: $3,275 in Lisbon versus $1,985 in Tainan.

Lisbon $3,275
Tainan $1,985

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $4,341 in Lisbon versus $2,822 in Tainan.

Lisbon $4,341
Tainan $2,822

Living in Lisbon is roughly 93% more expensive than in Tainan, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Lisbon is 62% above, Tainan is 16% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$16.65 €14.85

$3.63 NT$118

358.68%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$61.7 €55.1

$25.03 NT$815

146.66%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$11.36 €10.13

$4.72 NT$154

140.68%

Cappuccino

$2.97 €2.65

$3.09 NT$101

-3.88%

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

$2.29 €2.04

$1.35 NT$43.95

69.63%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.74 €1.55

$0.82 NT$26.66

112.20%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$3.40 €3.04

$3.06 NT$99.5

11.11%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.31 €2.95

$3.33 NT$108

-0.60%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.16 €1.03

$3.00 NT$97.6

-61.33%

White Bread (500g)

$1.91 €1.71

$1.75 NT$57.0

9.14%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.51 €1.35

$3.97 NT$129

-61.96%

Eggs

$4.02 €3.59

$2.90 NT$94.3

38.62%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.94 €11.54

$21.70 NT$707

-40.37%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$7.77 €6.94

$12.55 NT$409

-38.09%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$17.76 €15.85

$20.38 NT$664

-12.86%

Apples (1kg)

$2.30 €2.06

$5.30 NT$173

-56.60%

Banana (1kg)

$1.73 €1.55

$2.71 NT$88.3

-36.16%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.86 €1.66

$4.94 NT$161

-62.35%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.59 €2.31

$7.03 NT$229

-63.16%

Potato (1kg)

$1.82 €1.62

$4.50 NT$146

-59.56%

Onion (1kg)

$1.97 €1.76

$4.48 NT$146

-56.03%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.47 €1.31

$2.91 NT$94.6

-49.48%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.72 €0.65

$1.43 NT$46.59

-49.65%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$6.58 €5.87

$3.93 NT$128

67.43%

Wine (Bottle)

$5.61 €5.00

$18.61 NT$606

-69.85%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$1.36 €1.22

$1.96 NT$63.8

-30.61%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.14 €1.91

$2.26 NT$73.6

-5.31%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$2.33 €2.08

$0.54 NT$17.54

331.48%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$44.68 €39.86

$19.90 NT$648

124.52%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.85 €3.43

$2.58 NT$84.0

49.22%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.07 €0.95

$0.93 NT$30.40

15.05%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$16.46 €14.69

$5.67 NT$185

190.30%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$2.20 €1.96

$1.01 NT$32.87

117.82%

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

$34.2K €30.5K

$35.9K NT$1.2M

-4.86%

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

$38.7K €34.5K

$23.0K NT$747.8K

68.63%

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

$161 €144

$85.9 NT$2,796

87.75%

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

$18.41 €16.43

$17.17 NT$559

7.22%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$32.74 €29.21

$20.75 NT$676

57.78%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$44.55 €39.74

$44.23 NT$1,440

0.72%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$19.10 €17.04

Cinema Ticket

$9.60 €8.56

$9.31 NT$303

3.11%

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

$668 €596

$430 NT$14.0K

55.24%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$17.6K €15.7K

$5,382 NT$175.3K

227.26%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$102 €91.0

$90.7 NT$2,954

12.47%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$44.46 €39.67

$44.43 NT$1,447

0.07%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$98.5 €87.9

$116 NT$3,768

-14.86%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$124 €110

$121 NT$3,937

2.30%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,608 €1,435

$324 NT$10.5K

396.43%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,190 €1,062

$190 NT$6,175

527.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,812 €2,509

$826 NT$26.9K

240.31%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,013 €1,796

$707 NT$23.0K

184.93%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,839 €6,994

$3,122 NT$101.7K

151.08%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,576 €4,082

$2,148 NT$70.0K

113.00%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,575 €1,405

$1,350 NT$44.0K

16.66%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.85

2.5

54.00%

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

Last update for Lisbon: October 27, 2026

Last update for Tainan: October 26, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.8%

Tainan

$190 16.5% 84.1% $1K

Groceries & Markets

Lisbon

$272 12.3%

Tainan

$464 40.5% 70.5% $192

Eating Out

Lisbon

$243 11%

Tainan

$111 9.7% 54.3% $132

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Lisbon

$212 9.6%

Tainan

$124 10.8% 41.7% $89

Clothing & Footwear

Lisbon

$166 7.5%

Tainan

$167 14.6% 0.8% $1.4

Sport & Entertainment

Lisbon

$64 2.9%

Tainan

$63 5.5% 1.4% $0.9

Getting Around

Lisbon

$63 2.9%

Tainan

$29 2.6% 53.6% $34

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,608 in Lisbon and $324 in Tainan. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 17% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $62 in Lisbon vs $25 in Tainan. Groceries flip the comparison at $272 vs $464, with Lisbon cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🇹🇼 Tainan

🕒 Local time

14:23 2:23 PM

22:23 10:23 PM

8 h ahead of Lisbon

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

545,923 Capital

1,886,033

💱 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 = 0.892 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

New Taiwan Dollar exchange rates as of November 2, 2026: 1 USD = 32.56 TWD (100 TWD = 3.07 USD). 1 EUR = 36.34 TWD (100 TWD = 2.75 EUR).

USD to EUR in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Lisbon Tainan 11,360 km ≈ 15 h nonstop flight

From you

Lisbon
Tainan

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 Tainan: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,210 in Lisbon and $1,148 in Tainan, so Tainan is about 48% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 17% higher in Lisbon, 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 $324 in Tainan. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $668 in Lisbon versus $430 in Tainan. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Lisbon pay roughly 41% less for everyday groceries. It’s an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

At $1,148 in Tainan versus $2,210 in Lisbon, a $2,000 budget is realistic in Tainan but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Tainan 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 Tainan are both considered safe, so it’s unlikely to be the deciding factor between them.

It comes down to priorities – Tainan wins on affordability, Lisbon on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.