I was researching moving to Portugal and found it interesting to share what I discovered about the minimum wage in Portugal and whether it’s really worth it. So in 2025, the wage floor reached €870 per month on the mainland, an increase from €820 in 2024. On the islands, it’s a bit better: Madeira at €913.50 and the Azores at €915.

But here’s the detail that nobody talks about much. When you receive €870, Social Security already deducts 11% right away, leaving you with €774.30. If you also have IRS withholding, it drops even further. In other words, your net salary ends up well below that initial number everyone quotes.

I converted it to reais just to get an idea: €870 is about R$5,500 to R$5,600, depending on the exchange rate. It looks quite high compared to Brazil’s minimum wage of R$1,518, but then you start looking at the prices there and reality hits. Rent for a two-bedroom place in a decent neighborhood costs between €1,005 and €1,518. Food, transportation—everything is more expensive.

The monthly cost of living for one person is around €1,800, and for a family of 4 it reaches €3,304. Portugal is the second-cheapest country in Western Europe, but even so, it requires serious planning if you’re going to live only on the minimum wage in Portugal.

In smaller or medium-sized cities, you can manage better, but in Lisbon or Porto? Then it gets tight. You can live, but with tight control of your spending. The reality is that the minimum wage in Portugal isn’t that advantageous if you don’t have other sources of income or can’t land a job paying above the minimum.

Now, if you have a qualified profession, things change a lot. Specialized professions can earn two, three, even four times more. Engineers, developers, and healthcare professionals earn far more than the minimum—and that’s when the move really makes a lot of sense.

Comparing it with Brazil: Portugal pays more nominally, but the cost of living is also much higher. In Brazil, the deductions from the minimum wage are smaller, so your take-home pay might not be that different after all. Portugal’s real advantage is having qualifications and being able to earn above the minimum.

My conclusion? If you want to move to Portugal earning only the minimum wage, choose a smaller city and have strong financial discipline. But if you can get a position that pays above that, then it’s absolutely worth thinking seriously about the move. The important thing is not to go by the nominal numbers alone, but to calculate everything: deductions, the city’s cost of living you choose, and growth opportunities. If you have training that’s valued in the European market, you can come out of this change doing quite well.