City comparison
Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Lisbon
One person needs about €892 a month in Kuala Lumpur and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Kuala Lumpur is 110% cheaper overall.
Salary you'd need to keep the same lifestyle
Enter your current net monthly pay. We scale it by the full cost basket — rent, groceries, transport, utilities, eating out and internet.
To live in Lisbon the way you live in Kuala Lumpur on €3,000, you need
€6,303/ month net
110% more than today (+€3,303)
- Kuala Lumpur today
- Basket €892 · left over €2,108 (70%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €4,429 (70%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) vs 179% in Kuala Lumpur. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur
Condo-with-pool living for the price of a European room share.
Monthly budget: €892
Sources: Eurostat, Harmonised price indices (2025) · 0 community reports
🇵🇹 Lisbon
Visa-friendly and well connected, but local salaries lag far behind expat-driven rents.
Monthly budget: €1,874
Sources: Statistics Portugal (INE) + Eurostat, HICP & house-rent statistics (2025) · 331 community reports
Should you move to Kuala Lumpur or Lisbon?
On salary, Lisbon pays more for tech roles (€2,400 versus €1,600 a month), so the money left over after costs is €708 in Kuala Lumpur at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €520 in Kuala Lumpur against €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Kuala Lumpur at 79 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.