City comparison
Cost of living in Seoul vs Lisbon
One person needs about €1,639 a month in Seoul and €1,874 in Lisbon, rent included — Seoul is 14% 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 Seoul on €3,000, you need
€3,430/ month net
14% more than today (+€430)
- Seoul today
- Basket €1,639 · left over €1,361 (45%)
- Lisbon at the matched salary
- Basket €1,874 · left over €1,556 (45%)
Local pay context: average tech net pay covers the basket 128% over in Lisbon (tight) vs 207% in Seoul. Purchasing power index · How we calculate this
🇰🇷 Seoul
Fast everything, plus jeonse deposits that catch foreigners off guard.
Monthly budget: €1,639
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 Seoul or Lisbon?
On salary, Seoul pays more for tech roles (€3,400 versus €2,400 a month), so the money left over after costs is €1,761 in Seoul at the top end.
Rent drives most of the gap: €1,050 in Seoul against €1,300 in Lisbon. Groceries, transport and utilities move far less between the two.
For remote workers, the nomad index scores Seoul at 71 and Lisbon at 83 — see the full nomad index and our data methodology.