A Dutch couple I am working with right now, both remote workers in their early 40s, asked me the question that lands in my inbox more than any other: what will we actually spend each month if we move to Lagos? Not the brochure version. The real number, with rent at today’s prices, not what someone paid in 2019.<\/p>\n\n
I gave them the answer I give every relocating client, and it starts with a number most people find reassuring: a couple can live well in Lagos on roughly 2,800 to 3,500 EUR a month, renting a decent two-bed apartment. That covers everything from groceries to healthcare to padel twice a week. Below that range you are cutting corners. Above it you are choosing to, not because Lagos demands it.<\/p>\n\n
Between 2,800 and 3,500 EUR a month for a couple renting a two-bedroom apartment, eating out regularly, running a car, and carrying private health insurance on top of the public system. That is the honest range I quote to clients who ask me to help them plan a relocation. It assumes you are not paying a mortgage and not supporting children in local schools, both of which change the equation.<\/p>\n\n
Here is where that money actually goes.<\/p>\n\n
| Category<\/th> | Monthly range (EUR, couple)<\/th> | Notes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> |
|---|---|---|
| Rent (2-bed apartment)<\/td> | 1,100 – 1,600<\/td> | Centre or marina side. Unfurnished runs lower. Front-line Meia Praia pushes above 1,800.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Utilities (electric, water, gas, internet)<\/td> | 120 – 180<\/td> | A-rated apartments sit at the low end. Older buildings with no insulation and electric heating hit 250+ in winter.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Groceries<\/td> | 400 – 550<\/td> | Pingo Doce and Continente for basics. Saturday market for fish and produce. Wine from 2 EUR a bottle.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Eating out<\/td> | 250 – 400<\/td> | Lunch menu (prato do dia) runs 8 to 12 EUR including drink. Dinner for two with wine: 40 to 60 EUR at a good local spot.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Healthcare<\/td> | 100 – 200<\/td> | SNS is free for residents. Budget here is for private top-up insurance (50 to 120 EUR per person) plus the odd private consultation.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Transport<\/td> | 150 – 250<\/td> | Car insurance, fuel, tolls, parking. Lagos is walkable day to day but you will want a car for beaches, Faro airport, and weekend drives.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
| Leisure<\/td> | 100 – 250<\/td> | Padel (5 EUR a session), gym (30 to 50 EUR), coffee culture, occasional golf, cinema in Portimao.<\/td><\/tr>\n |
Total<\/strong><\/td>| 2,220 – 3,430<\/strong><\/td> | Most clients land at around 3,000 EUR once they settle in.<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n | The range is wide because rent drives it. A couple paying 1,100 EUR for a two-bed in the old town and cooking most nights can live comfortably under 2,500. A couple in a new-build near Meia Praia eating out four times a week will push past 3,500. Both are living well by any reasonable standard.<\/p>\n\n Where Lagos surprises people, both ways<\/h2>\n\nCheaper than you expect:<\/strong> Healthcare is the big one. The SNS covers GP visits, hospital care, and subsidised prescriptions at no cost to residents. A private insurance top-up with Multicare or Medis for shorter wait times and dental cover runs 50 to 120 EUR a month per person, which still undercuts the UK or Netherlands by a wide margin. Coffee is 0.80 to 1.20 EUR. A glass of wine with lunch is 2 to 3 EUR. The Saturday fish market in Lagos sells sea bream and sardines at prices a London fishmonger would not believe.<\/p>\n\n More expensive than you expect:<\/strong> Rent. Lagos rents have risen hard since 2022, driven by short-let demand and limited supply. What cost 700 EUR a month five years ago now costs 1,200. Imported goods, especially anything from outside the EU, carry a noticeable markup. And if you are bringing a car from the UK, re-registering and insuring a right-hand-drive vehicle in Portugal is an expensive headache I tell every British client to avoid.<\/p>\n\n I find it useful to paint the picture rather than just list the numbers. At 3,000 EUR a month, a couple in Lagos is renting a modern two-bed apartment with a terrace, walking to the old town for coffee and pasteis de nata in the morning, buying fish and vegetables at the Saturday market, eating out three or four times a week (lunch menus, not fine dining every night), running one small car, playing padel or going to the gym, carrying private health insurance, and still putting aside a small buffer each month. That is not surviving. That is living well in a town with 300 days of sunshine, world-class beaches, and a 20-minute drive to the nearest hospital.<\/p>\n\n Compare that to what the same 3,000 EUR (roughly 2,550 GBP) buys a couple in a comparable coastal town in the UK, and the value case makes itself.<\/p>\n\n |