Cost of living comparison

Costa Rica

compared to

Portugal

Portugal vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Portugal is 4.6% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.1% less in Portugal
Groceries: pay 32.8% less in Portugal
Transportation: pay 6.5% more in Portugal
Housing: pay 21.3% more in Portugal
Childcare: pay 28.4% less in Portugal
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.1% less in Portugal
Clothing: pay 11.3% less in Portugal

The cost of housing and transportation in Portugal are more expensive than in Costa Rica. Expenses including groceries, childcare, entertainment and sports, clothing, and restaurants are lower in Portugal.

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Portugal vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Portugal instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.1% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.15 CRC5,073.49	$13.01 €11.58	+16.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.85 CRC4,937.06	$9.54 €8.49	-12.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.43 CRC1,106.42	$1.90 €1.69	-21.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.79 CRC813.02	$1.44 €1.28	-19.2%
Average			-2.1%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.8% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Bread 1 loaf	$2.77 CRC1,261.89	$1.56 €1.39	-43.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 CRC2,192.99	$5.65 €5.03	+17.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.37 CRC3,808.87	$4.09 €3.64	-51.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.63 CRC1,653.83	$3.28 €2.92	-9.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.40 CRC2,002.78	$3.42 €3.04	-22.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.20 CRC1,003.04	$1.02 €0.91	-53.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 CRC329.98	$0.65 €0.58	-10.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.67 CRC758.13	$0.83 €0.74	-50.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.43 CRC652.25	$1.09 €0.97	-23.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.44 CRC655.18	$0.79 €0.70	-45.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.33 CRC603.93	$0.87 €0.77	-34.7%
Average			-32.8%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.5% more for transportation

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.78 CRC2,631.55	$7.95 €7.08	+37.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$66.80 CRC30,402.28	$37.81 €33.65	-43.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,830.95 CRC10M	$33,409.36 €29,735.53	+46.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.71 CRC7,149.33	$12.87 €11.46	-18.1%
Average			+6.5%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of transportation

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pay 21.3% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.66 CRC23,510.13	$39.38 €35.05	-23.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$834.08 CRC380K	$962.54 €856.70	+15.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$597.43 CRC272K	$770.06 €685.38	+28.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$68.56 CRC31,201.98	$94.27 €83.91	+37.5%
Average			+21.3%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of housing

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pay 28.4% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$742.27 CRC338K	$491.62 €437.56	-33.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,434.66 CRC6M	$10,398.72 €9,255.23	-22.6%
Average			-28.4%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.91 CRC1,323.10	$2.77 €2.46	-4.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.06 CRC1,847.37	$2.05 €1.83	-49.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.29 CRC2,409.48	$6.15 €5.47	+16.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.37 CRC30,203.17	$43.95 €39.11	-33.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.92 CRC3,603.80	$8.25 €7.34	+4.1%
Average			-20.1%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.3% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Portugal
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$67.50 CRC30,717.09	$80.47 €71.62	+19.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.52 CRC22,538.15	$37.54 €33.41	-24.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$122.64 CRC55,811.48	$86.61 €77.08	-29.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$108.52 CRC49,389.03	$105.16 €93.60	-3.1%
Average			-11.3%

Costa Rica vs. Portugal - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Costa Rica vs. Portugal

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Portugal?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Make 60.6% more money in Portugal

Size Comparison · See true size

Costa Rica is about 1.8 times smaller than Portugal.

Moving from Costa Rica to Portugal · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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