Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Xiamen and Lisbon

For one person, living is cheaper in Xiamen: $831 a month against $2,223 in Lisbon, rent and utilities included – about $16,700 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

40

Cost of Living Index in Xiamen
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Xiamen Living Index
107

Cost of Living Index in Lisbon
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Lisbon Living Index

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Xiamen

🇨🇳 China

$831

/mo nomad

Lisbon

🇵🇹 Portugal

$2,223

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Xiamen and in Lisbon

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

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $831 in Xiamen versus $2,223 in Lisbon.

Xiamen $831
Lisbon $2,223

Estimated couple costs with rent: $1,338 in Xiamen versus $3,271 in Lisbon.

Xiamen $1,338
Lisbon $3,271

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $1,846 in Xiamen versus $4,319 in Lisbon.

Xiamen $1,846
Lisbon $4,319

Living in Xiamen costs roughly 63% less than in Lisbon, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Xiamen is 38% below, Lisbon is 65% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$2.91 ¥19.48

$16.50 €14.67

-82.36%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$23.99 ¥160

$61.3 €54.5

-60.83%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$5.29 ¥35.36

$11.27 €10.03

-53.06%

Cappuccino

$2.54 ¥17.01

$3.06 €2.72

-16.99%

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

$0.49 ¥3.28

$2.26 €2.01

-78.32%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.33 ¥2.19

$1.73 €1.54

-80.92%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$1.48 ¥9.88

$3.39 €3.02

-56.34%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.95 ¥19.71

$3.40 €3.02

-13.24%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.53 ¥10.25

$1.12 €1.00

36.61%

White Bread (500g)

$2.35 ¥15.74

$1.86 €1.65

26.34%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$1.00 ¥6.67

$1.53 €1.36

-34.64%

Eggs

$1.63 ¥10.89

$3.96 €3.53

-58.84%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.09 ¥80.9

$12.76 €11.35

-5.25%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$2.45 ¥16.40

$7.90 €7.02

-68.99%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$12.00 ¥80.2

$16.97 €15.09

-29.29%

Apples (1kg)

$2.53 ¥16.91

$2.27 €2.02

11.45%

Banana (1kg)

$1.44 ¥9.60

$1.75 €1.55

-17.71%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.66 ¥11.07

$1.85 €1.64

-10.27%

Tomato (1kg)

$2.00 ¥13.36

$2.57 €2.28

-22.18%

Potato (1kg)

$0.98 ¥6.52

$1.86 €1.65

-47.31%

Onion (1kg)

$1.76 ¥11.78

$2.02 €1.80

-12.87%

Lettuce (1 head)

$0.86 ¥5.74

$1.44 €1.28

-40.28%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.50 ¥3.37

$0.82 €0.73

-39.02%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$3.07 ¥20.53

$6.56 €5.83

-53.20%

Wine (Bottle)

$11.33 ¥75.7

$5.62 €5.00

101.60%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$0.80 ¥5.32

$1.28 €1.14

-37.50%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.69 ¥11.29

$2.07 €1.84

-18.36%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$0.16 ¥1.04

$2.35 €2.09

-93.19%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$11.97 ¥80.0

$44.18 €39.30

-72.91%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$1.53 ¥10.20

$3.99 €3.55

-61.65%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.31 ¥2.10

$1.09 €0.97

-71.56%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.37 ¥49.26

$16.64 €14.81

-55.71%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.26 ¥8.42

$2.28 €2.03

-44.74%

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

$19.1K ¥127.9K

$33.7K €30.0K

-43.20%

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

$17.7K ¥118.1K

$39.3K €35.0K

-55.05%

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

$44.38 ¥297

$167 €149

-73.50%

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

$8.49 ¥56.8

$18.80 €16.72

-54.84%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$10.38 ¥69.4

$33.09 €29.43

-68.63%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$47.51 ¥318

$46.01 €40.93

3.26%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$10.64 ¥71.2

$19.19 €17.07

-44.55%

Cinema Ticket

$10.16 ¥67.9

$9.84 €8.75

3.25%

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

$491 ¥3,284

$677 €602

-27.47%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$24.3K ¥162.2K

$16.9K €15.1K

43.39%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$38.94 ¥260

$101 €90.1

-61.54%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$29.13 ¥195

$45.76 €40.70

-36.34%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$103 ¥690

$100.0 €88.9

3.23%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$85.0 ¥568

$123 €109

-30.78%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$355 ¥2,375

$1,614 €1,436

-77.99%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$265 ¥1,771

$1,197 €1,065

-77.87%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$841 ¥5,623

$2,862 €2,545

-70.61%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$547 ¥3,655

$1,990 €1,770

-72.53%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$8,609 ¥57.6K

$7,577 €6,740

13.63%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,717 ¥31.5K

$4,307 €3,831

9.51%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$1,182 ¥7,901

$1,588 €1,412

-25.58%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

3.46

3.85

-10.13%

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

Last update for Xiamen: October 11, 2026

Last update for Lisbon: October 11, 2026

Monthly budget structure

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

Accommodation & Living

Xiamen

$265 31.9%

Lisbon

$1.2K 53.9% 352% $932

Groceries & Markets

Xiamen

$218 26.2%

Lisbon

$269 12.1% 23.7% $52

Clothing & Footwear

Xiamen

$115 13.9%

Lisbon

$166 7.5% 44.3% $51

Eating Out

Xiamen

$86 10.4%

Lisbon

$242 10.9% 181% $156

Sport & Entertainment

Xiamen

$68 8.2%

Lisbon

$66 3% 3.1% $2.1

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Xiamen

$63 7.6%

Lisbon

$219 9.9% 247% $156

Getting Around

Xiamen

$16 1.9%

Lisbon

$63 2.8% 302% $47

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $355 in Xiamen and $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Lisbon pays 34% 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: $24.00 in Xiamen vs $61.0 in Lisbon for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $218 vs $269 per month, with Xiamen cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇨🇳 Xiamen

🇵🇹 Lisbon

🕒 Local time

04:29 4:29 AM

21:29 9:29 PM

7 h behind Xiamen

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,531,000

545,923 Capital

💱 Currency

Chinese Yuan CNY ¥

Euro EUR €

📈 Exchange rate

1 CNY = 0.15 USD

1 CNY = 0.133 EUR

1 EUR = 1.12 USD

Exchange rates and currency converter

EUR, USD to CNY – Chinese Yuan Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇨🇳 Chinese Yuan (¥)

Chinese Yuan exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 6.69 CNY (1 CNY = 0.15 USD). 1 EUR = 7.52 CNY (1 CNY = 0.133 EUR).

Euro exchange rates as of October 18, 2026: 1 USD = 0.889 EUR (1 EUR = 1.12 USD).

USD to CNY in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Xiamen Lisbon 11,100 km ≈ 14 h nonstop flight

From you

Xiamen
Lisbon

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

Xiamen vs Lisbon: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Xiamen and Lisbon differ by about 168% in total monthly costs ($831 vs $2,223 including rent). Xiamen is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

On paper, salaries run 34% 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: $355 in Xiamen versus $1,614 in Lisbon. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $491 in Xiamen versus $677 in Lisbon. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Supermarket bills run roughly 24% higher in Lisbon. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.

At $831 in Xiamen versus $2,223 in Lisbon, a $1,500 budget is realistic in Xiamen but tight or insufficient in Lisbon. The gap between the two cities makes Xiamen 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, Xiamen and Lisbon are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Xiamen gentler on the wallet – expenses run 168% less than in Lisbon. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.