Cost of living comparison

Portugal

compared to

Finland

Helsinki vs. Lisbon Cost of Living Summary

Helsinki is 2.2% more expensive than Lisbon.

Restaurants: pay 19.2% more in Helsinki
Groceries: pay 13.4% more in Helsinki
Transportation: pay 30.8% more in Helsinki
Housing: pay 23.2% less in Helsinki
Childcare: pay 27.5% less in Helsinki
Entertainment and Sports: pay 76.5% more in Helsinki
Clothing: pay 2.4% more in Helsinki

The cost of entertainment and sports, transportation, restaurants, groceries, and clothing in Helsinki are more expensive than in Lisbon. Expenses including childcare and housing are lower in Helsinki. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Helsinki.

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Helsinki vs. Lisbon Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Helsinki instead of Lisbon, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.2% more for restaurants

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$17.92 €15.95	+6.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.20 €9.97	$13.44 €11.96	+20.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.30 €2.05	$3.45 €3.07	+49.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.70 €1.51	$2.59 €2.30	+52.2%
Average			+19.2%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.4% more for groceries

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Bread 1 loaf	$1.87 €1.67	$2.76 €2.45	+47.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.43 €5.72	$4.96 €4.41	-22.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.34 €3.87	$5.08 €4.52	+17.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.94 €3.51	$3.93 €3.50	-0.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.60 €3.21	$6.02 €5.36	+67.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.01 €0.90	$1.26 €1.12	+24.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.78 €0.69	$0.99 €0.88	+27.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.83 €0.74	$1.12 €1.00	+34.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.14 €1.01	$1.77 €1.58	+55.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 €0.73	$0.55 €0.49	-32.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.91 €0.81	$0.74 €0.66	-19.2%
Average			+13.4%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of groceries

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pay 30.8% more for transportation

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$8.43 €7.50	$8.89 €7.91	+5.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$44.79 €39.86	$81.74 €72.75	+82.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,640.22 €29,941.00	$36,622.07 €32,594.96	+8.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.52 €11.14	$26.34 €23.44	+110.4%
Average			+30.8%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.2% less for housing

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$32.72 €29.12	$24.77 €22.05	-24.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,595.62 €1,420.16	$1,207.26 €1,074.51	-24.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,189.97 €1,059.12	$904.00 €804.59	-24.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$126.43 €112.53	$104.89 €93.35	-17.0%
Average			-23.2%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of housing

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pay 27.5% less for childcare

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$678.84 €604.19	$476.51 €424.11	-29.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$16,935.72 €15,073.40	$12,685.20 €11,290.29	-25.1%
Average			-27.5%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of childcare

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pay 76.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 €2.99	$10.08 €8.97	+200.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.03 €2.69	$5.23 €4.65	+72.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.72 €5.98	$14.00 €12.46	+108.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.25 €41.16	$46.96 €41.80	+1.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.66 €8.60	$18.48 €16.44	+91.3%
Average			+76.5%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4% more for clothing

	Lisbon	Helsinki
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$102.78 €91.47	$92.46 €82.29	-10.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.72 €40.69	$43.55 €38.76	-4.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$99.13 €88.23	$104.85 €93.32	+5.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$123.02 €109.49	$149.45 €133.01	+21.5%
Average			+2.4%

Lisbon vs. Helsinki - 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

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Lisbon is about 2.1 times smaller than Helsinki.

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