Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Portugal

Lisbon vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Lisbon is 87.2% more expensive than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 2.9 times more in Lisbon
Groceries: pay 13.1% more in Lisbon
Transportation: pay 84.0% more in Lisbon
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Lisbon
Childcare: pay 71.1% more in Lisbon
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.3% more in Lisbon
Clothing: pay 23.3% more in Lisbon

The cost of restaurants, housing, transportation, childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports in Lisbon are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Notably, restaurants, housing, and transportation are significantly more expensive in Lisbon.

Planning a move to Portugal? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Lisbon vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lisbon instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9 times more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.89 MYR19.98	$16.80 €14.95	+243.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.89 MYR19.98	$11.20 €9.97	+128.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.81 MYR3.30	$2.30 €2.05	+185.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.46 MYR1.88	$1.70 €1.51	+269.1%
Average			+194.4%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 13.1% more for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Bread 1 loaf	$1.09 MYR4.47	$1.87 €1.67	+71.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.00 MYR28.58	$6.43 €5.72	-8.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.96 MYR32.51	$4.34 €3.87	-45.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.53 MYR10.32	$3.94 €3.51	+55.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.02 MYR8.25	$3.60 €3.21	+78.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.55 MYR6.32	$1.01 €0.90	-34.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 MYR3.34	$0.78 €0.69	-5.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.04 MYR4.23	$0.83 €0.74	-19.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 MYR2.91	$1.14 €1.01	+59.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MYR2.41	$0.82 €0.73	+39.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.54	$0.91 €0.81	+47.3%
Average			+13.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 84.0% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.22 MYR13.14	$8.43 €7.50	+162.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.24 MYR49.96	$44.79 €39.86	+266.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$41,736.41 MYR170K	$33,640.22 €29,941.00	-19.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.01 MYR44.96	$12.52 €11.14	+13.7%
Average			+84.0%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.27 MYR107.27	$32.72 €29.12	+24.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$617.87 MYR2,522.90	$1,595.62 €1,420.16	+158.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$371.37 MYR1,516.38	$1,189.97 €1,059.12	+220.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.56 MYR194.21	$126.43 €112.53	+165.8%
Average			+172.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 71.1% more for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$299.09 MYR1,221.23	$678.84 €604.19	+127.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,124.70 MYR53,590.76	$16,935.72 €15,073.40	+29.0%
Average			+71.1%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 14.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.40 MYR17.99	$3.36 €2.99	-23.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.10 MYR12.64	$3.03 €2.69	-2.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.40 MYR17.99	$6.72 €5.98	+52.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.89 MYR199.62	$46.25 €41.16	-5.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.02 MYR20.48	$9.66 €8.60	+92.5%
Average			+14.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.3% more for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Lisbon
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$71.46 MYR291.78	$102.78 €91.47	+43.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.92 MYR171.18	$45.72 €40.69	+9.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$86.22 MYR352.05	$99.13 €88.23	+15.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$96.07 MYR392.29	$123.02 €109.49	+28.0%
Average			+23.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: Kuala Lumpur vs. Lisbon

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Lisbon?

Size Comparison · See true size

Kuala Lumpur is about 2.4 times bigger than Lisbon.

More cost comparisons

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Berlin

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Paris

Kuala Lumpur vs.

New York City

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Shanghai

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Dublin

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Sydney

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Lima

Kuala Lumpur vs.

Toronto

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Malaysia vs. Portugal. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malaysia and Portugal.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Kuala Lumpur

Add prices for Lisbon

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Lisbon or Kuala Lumpur. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.