Pricele #52: Big Mac in Portugal 🇵🇹
The puzzle for 21 August 2026 asked what a Big Mac costs in Portugal. Here is the answer and the context behind it.
The answer
Big Mac · Portugal
$7.05
6.08 EUR
About 47 minutes of the average local wage buys a Big Mac.
More expensive than 75% of the 45 countries in the game.
Source: The Economist Big Mac Index (euro-area price), Jan 2026.
About big mac
The Big Mac is the most-quoted price in economics. The Economist started publishing its Big Mac Index in 1986 as a light-hearted way to test purchasing-power parity, the theory that a currency should buy the same basket of goods anywhere. Because the burger is close to identical everywhere it is sold, the gap between what it costs in two countries is a rough read on whether a currency is over- or undervalued.
Where Portugal sits
Of the 45 countries priced for big mac, Portugal ranks #12 from the top at $7.05, 1.3× the median of $5.53.
Portugal has eurozone prices on a lower wage base, so its work-time figures are among the least favourable in Western Europe. Café prices are a notable exception and remain some of the cheapest in the eurozone. Essential food is charged at 6% against a 23% standard rate, the same headline rate as Ireland and Poland, applied to a very different income level. That combination is what makes Portugal the country in this table where the gap between the dollar column and the work-time column is most worth reading carefully: the prices are Western European and the wages are not.
| Nearby on the big mac table | USD | Local | Work time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | $7.05 | 6.08 EUR | 30 min |
| Netherlands | $7.05 | 6.08 EUR | 21 min |
| Portugal | $7.05 | 6.08 EUR | 47 min |
| United Kingdom | $7.08 | 5.29 GBP | 24 min |
| Sweden | $7.26 | 67 SEK | 21 min |
What else costs what in Portugal
| Item | USD | Local | Work time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coca-Cola (330ml can) | $1.21 | 1.15 EUR | 8 min |
| Cappuccino | $2.16 | 1.88 EUR | 14 min |
| Milk (1 litre) | $1.10 | 0.96 EUR | 7 min |
| Eggs (dozen) | $3.48 | 3.02 EUR | 23 min |
| Apples (1 kg) | $2.28 | 1.98 EUR | 15 min |
| Gasoline (1 litre) | $2.10 | 1.82 EUR | 14 min |
| Diesel (1 litre) | $2.35 | 2.03 EUR | 16 min |
| Electricity (100 kWh) | $25.20 | 21.8 EUR | 2.8 h |
| Natural gas (100 kWh) | $15.30 | 13.2 EUR | 1.7 h |
| Cigarettes (20-pack) | $5.52 | 5.1 EUR | 37 min |
| Beer (330ml) | $0.86 | 0.79 EUR | 6 min |
| Spirits (750ml bottle) | $18.26 | 16.87 EUR | 2.0 h |
| Vape e-liquid (1 ml) | $3.11 | 2.88 EUR | 21 min |
| Mobile data (1 GB) | $1.79 | — | 12 min |
| A day's healthy diet | $2.71 | 2.4 EUR | 18 min |
Go deeper
See the full table for big mac in every country or everything priced in Portugal.