Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Brussels	Rio de Janeiro
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2028	$940
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4874	$2347
🏠 One person rent	$1133	$458
🏘️ Family rent	$1958	$770
🍽️ Food expenses	$649	$258
🚐 Transport expenses	$97.4	$137
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3458	$442
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	96	95
😀 Quality of life	91	67
🏙️ Population	196K	6.21M

The cost of living in Brussels is 116% more expensive than in Rio de Janeiro. Cities ranked 1913th and 6006th ($2028 vs $940) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Belgium and Brazil, respectively. Check Belgium vs Brazil comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Brussels compared to 0.5 months in Rio de Janeiro. Brussels ranked 1st best city to live in Belgium vs Rio de Janeiro ranked 2nd in Brazil, while ranked 165th and 4818th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/brussels/rio-de-janeiro.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brussels/rio-de-janeiro" target="_blank">Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brussels vs Rio de Janeiro

Prices for goods and services in Brussels and Rio de Janeiro are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Brussels	Rio de Janeiro
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$25.6	$6.45
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$77.4	$31.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$6.48
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.38	$1.85
☕ Cappuccino	$4.55	$2.36
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.18	$1.31
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1090	$501
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$879	$324
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1983	$881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1587	$563
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$155	$79.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$235	$125
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.3	$18.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	3.23%	11.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4704	$1966
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3801	$1150
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.93	$1.25
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$63.9	$41.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$26.7	$7.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.95	$1.09
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.48
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.86	$2.09
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.2	$8.65
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$3.96
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.7	$8.22
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.95	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.56
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$1.56
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$1.47
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.22
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.5	$1.13
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.76	$0.39
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$1.69
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.21	$7.11
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.34	$1.17
🚬 Cigarette pack	$13.2	$1.99
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$10.4	$3.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.07	$3.18
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.49	$1.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.32	$0.98
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$25.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$6.37
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$37.9	$51.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$8.04
👖 Brand Jeans	$102	$45.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$74.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1055	$531
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22658	$12076

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brussels

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	Schaerbeek	$1854
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Saint-Gilles	$1876
4 km or 2.5 mi	Anderlecht	$1889
4.2 km or 2.6 mi	Forest	$1931
4.5 km or 2.8 mi	Woluwe-Saint-Lambert	$1758
6.2 km or 3.8 mi	Watermael-Boitsfort	$1847
7.3 km or 4.6 mi	Dilbeek	$1858
10 km or 6.3 mi	Sint-Pieters-Leeuw	$1870
10 km or 6.4 mi	Vilvoorde	$1732
11 km or 6.8 mi	Tervuren	$1845
15 km or 9 mi	Overijse	$1816
15 km or 9.1 mi	Waterloo	$2025
15 km or 9.1 mi	Halle	$1835
17 km or 11 mi	Zemst	$1791
19 km or 12 mi	Braine-l'Alleud	$1863
19 km or 12 mi	Rixensart	$1787
21 km or 13 mi	Mechelen	$1835
21 km or 13 mi	Tubize	$1801
23 km or 14 mi	Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve	$1806
23 km or 14 mi	Wavre	$1745
23 km or 15 mi	Herent	$1823
24 km or 15 mi	Ninove	$1768
24 km or 15 mi	Aalst	$1846
25 km or 15 mi	Leuven	$1867
26 km or 16 mi	Dendermonde	$1571
28 km or 17 mi	Nivelles	$1648
31 km or 20 mi	Braine-le-Comte	$1746
35 km or 22 mi	Lier	$1737
35 km or 22 mi	Geraardsbergen	$1657
36 km or 23 mi	Heist-op-den-Berg	$1830
37 km or 23 mi	Mortsel	$1696
37 km or 23 mi	Aarschot	$1794
37 km or 23 mi	Soignies	$1722
38 km or 23 mi	Zottegem	$1724
38 km or 24 mi	Lokeren	$1745
38 km or 24 mi	Sint-Niklaas	$1671
40 km or 25 mi	Gembloux	$1867
40 km or 25 mi	Beveren	$1804
41 km or 26 mi	Tienen	$1666
41 km or 26 mi	Antwerp	$1818

Cities near Rio de Janeiro

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Niteroi	$739
18 km or 11 mi	Duque de Caxias	$653
21 km or 13 mi	Sao Joao de Meriti	$648
26 km or 16 mi	Belford Roxo	$810
31 km or 19 mi	Nova Iguacu	$590
45 km or 28 mi	Petropolis	$706
60 km or 37 mi	Teresopolis	$498
70 km or 44 mi	Saquarema	$564
98 km or 61 mi	Nova Friburgo	$445
102 km or 64 mi	Volta Redonda	$539
108 km or 67 mi	Barra Mansa	$557
112 km or 70 mi	Sao Pedro da Aldeia	$530
115 km or 72 mi	Angra dos Reis	$683
121 km or 75 mi	Cabo Frio	$525
130 km or 81 mi	Juiz de Fora	$550
135 km or 84 mi	Rio das Ostras	$506
137 km or 85 mi	Resende	$603
157 km or 97 mi	Macae	$625
184 km or 115 mi	Cruzeiro	$631
196 km or 122 mi	Barbacena	$540
199 km or 123 mi	Lorena	$673
200 km or 124 mi	Ubatuba	$632
201 km or 125 mi	Uba	$597
208 km or 129 mi	Guaratingueta	$643
215 km or 134 mi	Muriae	$613
226 km or 140 mi	Sao Joao del-Rei	$541
231 km or 144 mi	Campos dos Goytacazes	$518
232 km or 144 mi	Pindamonhangaba	$620
238 km or 148 mi	Itajuba	$536
240 km or 149 mi	Caraguatatuba	$625
241 km or 150 mi	Taubate	$611
242 km or 150 mi	Vicosa	$618
245 km or 152 mi	Sao Sebastiao	$633
251 km or 156 mi	Tres Coracoes	$559
257 km or 160 mi	Conselheiro Lafaiete	$644
258 km or 160 mi	Cacapava	$657
264 km or 164 mi	Lavras	$530
275 km or 171 mi	Varginha	$492
277 km or 172 mi	Sao Jose dos Campos	$819
279 km or 173 mi	Ponte Nova	$586