Cost of Living in Uruguay

Posted on March 27, 2007
Filed Under Economy, Cost of Living, Expat Tips | 22 Comments

Have you been hearing that life in Uruguay is inexpensive? Are you itching to sell your house and bolt for the Airport? Hold your horses. The truth is, life in Uruguay can be fairly inexpensive or can be nearly as expensive as in North America. It will depend on your life-style.

For example, a typical T-shirt purchased in Uruguay is cheaper than in the US, however the quality is usually much inferior. Although shirts of similar quality to the ones in the US can easily be found at boutiques, they are significantly more expensive. The same is true for many other day-to-day items. Also items considered basic in US homes may be specialty items in Uruguay, and priced as such.

The lists below show how some Uruguayan goods and services fare compared to US average prices (USAP). They are for illustration purposes and represent a rough comparison only.

Inexpensive (anywhere between 25 and 80% of USAP)

Restaurants
Produce, locally grown fruits and vegetables
Bread and baked goods
Beer, table wine
Meat
Transportation
Real estate
Health care
Education
Services in general

Neutral (anywhere between 80 and 120% of USAP)

Quality wines
Coffee, sugar, olive oil and products with world prices
Imported fruits
Home furnishings
Inexpensive Chinese products
Natural gas
Telephone

Expensive (anywhere between 120 and 200% of USAP)

Exotic foods i.e. any food not typically consumed by Uruguayans. For example: peanut butter, orange juice, cereal, some chips and snacks
Convenience products - paper products, zip-lock bags, plastic wrap
Clothing, shoes of similar quality
Electricity
Internet
Appliances, video games, electro-electronics in general
Pots and pans, kitchen gadgets of similar quality
Daily Newspaper
Foreign language books and magazines
Eye glasses, contact lenses

Very expensive (more than 200% of USAP)

Cars, boats, motorized equipment
Gasoline
Luxury goods

By adopting a life-style more similar to the one of the average Uruguayan, the cost of living in Uruguay would probably be less than half that of North America. However, given the cultural baggage we all carry, I think a more reasonable estimate for the typical North American ex-pat would be around 60-80% of what they would spend at home. It is important to remember that exchange rate fluctuations may make it less favorable in the years ahead. Of course, if one were to include airfare to visit relatives once a year the savings would shrink even further.

I found that whenever things appear inexpensive the temptation to consume more is great. For example, in Uruguay I am always tempted to buy or rent a bigger home, going out to eat more often, consider contracting household help, etc. I have to keep reminding myself that these small luxuries need to be compensated by cuts elsewhere.

In case you are curious, I created a spreadsheet to estimate what our costs in Uruguay would be. Click here to download it. Please note that the costs in this spreadsheet are for a couple with no children or other moochers. It does not include a car, boat or any motorized vehicle. It assumes ownership of an apartment and a lot of eating and drinking. It also includes some travel to nearby destinations. It does not include long-term replacement costs of items such as computers, appliances, furniture, etc. It assumes the taxes were already paid and that the couple is vigilant with what they consume. On the other hand, if you are impulsive, less organized, like new cars, have children, have pets and/or love to travel, it may be prudent to plan for a much larger budget than the one outlined.

The cost of living spreadsheet and other information can also be found in the UY Resources page.

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22 Responses to “Cost of Living in Uruguay”

Shirley on March 27th, 2007 5:38 pm

This is a very helpful list — thanks! As an addendum: I consider nutritional supplements to be in the Expensive or Very Expensive category. Most of what I searched for is available here (although often in different forms or dosages), but the prices (at Tienda Inglesa) are consistently about 2.5x the prices in the US. (The difference for me is even more than that, since in the US I bought during sales, in bulk quantities, with a membership discount.) I used Tienda Inglesa prices for comparison because it was easy to look them up online; maybe pharmacies or specialty stores have better prices.
Brazzie on March 27th, 2007 5:52 pm

Good point. I just did some searching to see if it would be worthwhile for you to travel to the border and buy them in bulk in Brazil or Argentina. I found this site http://www.lojadulcevita.com.br/?partner_id=23&OVRAW=vitamina%20b2&OVKEY=vitamina&OVMTC=advanced
but I am not sure what these items cost in US. So this idea may be a dud. To transform Reais to dollars divide by 2.
gabo_uy on March 27th, 2007 6:54 pm

excellent article! very good point, thinking uruguay is much cheaper than the U.S. can be naive.

cheers,
gabo
Lisa on March 28th, 2007 4:56 pm

Hi Brazzie… nice list and good food for thought in general. I havent’ been good at thinking about everthing I spend…and I guess I did make assumptions that everything would be cheaper. Thanks, Lisa
Steve Bowman on March 30th, 2007 2:53 pm

Brazzie-

This is a wonderful/accurate expose!

I’ve been working on a cost of living article I’m going change. I feel you’ve covered this issue and there are a few twists I’ll add, but this post covers it.

In our next Cost of Living article, if it’s OK, we’ll link to this article. My spreadsheet analysis jives with yours.

Steve Bowman
Brazzie on March 30th, 2007 2:59 pm

Steve, feel free to link to any article whenever you think it’s appropriate. Thanks for confirming the price estimates.
Mark Brown on April 1st, 2007 2:08 am

As it regards the automobiles, how certain are you on the 200% number? Thanks!
Brazzie on April 1st, 2007 3:19 am

Hi Mark,
Please take a look at this site for example http://www.honda.com.uy/Lista%20de%20precios/Lista_precios.htm
The PV (precio venta) publico (meaning not tax exempt) is around 50000 dollars. I quickly checked the price of the same car in the US and it is slightly less than half that amount. So I think the 200% is roughly what you should expect. If any of you readers have different numbers please write in.
tony on April 9th, 2007 7:12 pm

There are many factors that contribute to a high cost of a car here in Uruguay

a) Taxes : You have, IIRC, Cofis, IVA or VAT (23% here) plus the profit that the salesman wants over the car. Also, if the car is not made in Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay or Uruguay) which is another 30 something %. So, you end up paying twice as much.

b) I remember when I went to chile, I saw a VW Gol, made in Brazil. In Uruguay at that time the car was about U$S 14K. In Chile, and Chile not being a member of Mercosur, it was about U$S 7-8K. There are not that many taxes in Chile.

c) given that certain extra-mercosur cars that are competitive or in the same kind of car as those from mercosur, car dealers have pleny of “room” to pump up the price and leave you with no choice.

d) if you want to sell your 0km, brand new car right after you bought it, you might be forced to sell it for up to 50% less!!!… given that half the price is taxes…

e) plates are expensive here. It is a “strong” form of “tax” over the cost of the vehicle and much less of a means to get the money needed to keep up the roads. Example: I had a 1996 Peugeot with a 1400cc engine, no airbags. In the late nineties, I was paying somewhere in the U$S 200 to 300 dollaras a year for the plates/license. I had a friend in the states that payed half of that for a newer Audi, with airbags, 2800cc.

e) Gas is somewhere as twice as expensive as in the states.

f) Insurance for said Peugeot was in the order of U$S 700-1000 a year, full coverage.

g) Tough the state is the owner of the biggest insurance company, and there were figures of insurance companies spending as much as U$S 900M a year in car accidents, there no tax benefit in bringing in a safer car (example: there’s no tax deduction on cars with airbags, most cars here do not have airbags, only BMW’s, hi end VW’s, Audi, Mercedes Benz, High End Peugeot have airbags… you get the picture.. Fiat’s, VW Gol’s, Maruti’s, do not have airbags…).

h) Given the high price of the Gas ($U 30 a liter, with U$S 1 being something like $U 24 as of this), many people use Diesel cars, which are more expensive, so its plates/insurance is more expensive also, but’s is the only way to use a vehicle if you do over a certain mileage a month. So, Uruguay has a surplus of Gas, given that one barrel is capable of producing more than twice as much Gas that a given amount of Diesel. That suplus is sold to Argentina at something around 1/3 of the cost of a liter in Uruguay.
Brazzie on April 9th, 2007 9:28 pm

Tony, thanks for the great info! It is enough for me to give up cars altogether. Cheers.
tony on April 12th, 2007 4:58 pm

You’re welcome,Brazzie.

Another thing I found out about cars and Uruguay is the following: I have friends living abroad, a few of them in the states, and one of them is coming back after more than 6 years in the states, just to wait until the final papers are approved, then he is going back to the states. Anyway, having to stay here for about a year, the thought he could bring his car with him.

So, in Uruguay, and if you are an uruguayan living for more than two years overseas, you could import your car along with personal items, home stuff, work related items, free of taxes. Problem is that after the 2002 crisis, the “car” part was no longer possible because of the lobby of the car dealers. That because there was a lot of uruguayans living overseas, and given the price difference of cars, it was a nice personal business to bring a good car either for yourself or maybe sell it here afterwards.

I had friend from switzerland that did the same thing when going from the states to their country, they were a couple, so each imported a car (If I remember it correctly, a 4×4 and a mazda miata) back with no problem and no taxes.

What’s still open for people from uruguay is to bring a “classic” car (more than 20 years old or something like that), but some other rules apply (ie: you can not sell it for at least 3 years) so that’s ok as long as you plan to keep it (you need to be a member of some classic car association and some stuff like that also).

Anyway, that applies to people from uruguay coming back here, I don’t know if there’s anything available for foreigners.

As usual, there’s a lot of used cars being traded, what that a whole other thing.

Regards.
peter jones on April 20th, 2007 9:07 am

For me your cost of living total of about 25000 dollars per annum was almost spot on.You might be able to live for less but there could be a bit of hardship
ApartmentsBA on April 25th, 2007 6:40 pm

I just found this website while doing a Google search to research water prices to see why no one else is complaining about the high cost of Water in Punta del Este. I’m sure you can certainly live in Uruguay very cheap but you can also spend as much or more here than the USA.

At least this applies to Punta del Este where things are very expensive. I live here in Buenos Aires and utilities here are dirt cheap. Electricty, water, gas are all regulated by the government and cheap.

I bought a house in Punta del Este last year and I totally did a high end renovation on it. I love the city but one thing you should note is the expenses can add up. Many things here are more expensive than the USA or at least as much. Here are the things I note below. I have a 3 bedroom house with 2 full bathrooms, an in ground pool. My lot size is about 500 sq. meters.

- Water is OUTRAGEOUS expensive here with new changes with the law. My house is 175 sq. meters and my last water bill was about u$s 400 per month.

- Electricity here is also very expensive. Again, my electricity bill was about u$s 300 per month.

- High speed Internet is expensive here. Most places around the world it’s cheap around u$s 30 a month or so for fast service around 1 MB. Here in Buenos Aires it’s about 100 pesos or u$s 33 for 1 MB service with Fibertel. In Punta del Este the choices are few and far between. Where I live I had to use the service from ANTEL and it’s only 500KB or something similar and it’s about u$s 80 per month.

— DirectTV which I have is not cheap either

— I don’t have a gas bill as I got rid of all the gas in my house for safety reasons so everything is electric.

— Most houses you have to have a gardener. I pay u$s 60 per month

– Pool maitenance u$s 100 during the summer and u$s 50 during the non-summer months

— Property insurance is relatively expensive here. I think I had a higher fee since I don’t live here full time and i have a lot of expensive things in my house. Everything is fully insured so the policy I think is something like u$s 1,500 per year.

— You have to have a security alarm if you don’t live here full-time. This is something like u$s 40 per month for the best service that you can monitor online.

– Telephone is relatively cheap at around u$s 30 a month or so I believe I pay for the basic service.

These above are just the monthly “nut” to keep the house. I probably am leaving things out but everything adds up to have a house here. Again, I’m sure you can live here cheaper.

I still find it worth it as I use the house at least once per month to escape the City life. The other great things are the property taxes are low here. The city is great and the people are friendly and it’s very safe.

I also rent my house out and the rates people pay during summer are insane here. I can’t afford to stay in my own house during high season. LOL.

Keep in mind they are changing the laws here. Before there was a 0% capital gains tax here on real estate. it’s changing to 12% starting in July 2007. Also, there were no taxes on rental income before and in July 2007 they are going to try to tax rental income. I’m not sure how they will enforce it but they are at least passing the law.

Cheers all.
Brazzie on April 25th, 2007 6:49 pm

This is great information!
ApartmentsBA on April 25th, 2007 6:59 pm

Sure. I am heading to a dinner meeting but I’ll try to do it when I come back. I didn’t post the above information to scare anyone or a reason not to buy or invest in Uruguay. In fact, I still find the costs above are worth it. To keep things in perspective, I rented my house from Christas Day to January 2 last year for u$s 10,000 then all throughout January for u$s 8,000 per week and February I rented it u$s 7,000 per week and all of March for u$s 10,000. So although I’m complaining about the expenses, it’s still an amazing place for me to use every month and the rental income has been amazing!

In fact, I’m either going to build another house much bigger or buy a house on the beach. I’m looking at one now with 4 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms with an ocean view. I’m already dreading the electricty and water bills on that place! Ha, ha.
swissaussi on May 15th, 2007 8:22 am

A car dealer only makes US$500 on new Honda Fit(Jazz) LXL AT 1.4, that sells for US$ 23,900 and only 6% on a Fiat Uno - not much.

For basic models, low mileage used cars sell for almost the price as a new car. For example, a 2001 Hyunday Atos with 65,000 km was advertised for US$ 10,000 (search for used car in www.gallito.com.uy ) while a new one sells for about US$ 14000.

A new Suzuki Maruti 0.8 costs about US$11,000, but has a radio made in India; The Effa Ideal 1.0, an Atos-like from China costs US$ 11,490. The Chrysler Celta 1.0 and Fiat Uno 1.3 sell for a similar amount.

If you think small, you could save…

The link below lists the assessed value in pesos of each vehicle for the purposes of the Impuesto al Patrimonio (asset tax). It takes into consideration the make, year, cyl.
http://www.dgi.gub.uy/utilitarios/aforos/aforos_imm_2006.pdf
José on May 26th, 2007 2:32 pm

This is an excellent website, which offers tons of great advice and useful resources. I am currently studying a job offer in Uruguay. It would be a big move, so I am trying to assess the situation very carefully. Any idea about what can of wages an IT professional with an honours and a masters degree can command in Uruguay?
Thanks.
Brazzie on May 26th, 2007 2:48 pm

Hi José, unfortunately I don’t have any real data regarding wages in that field. However, in general, you should expect to be paid considerably less than in Europe (or NA). Also keep in mind that should you later need to change jobs within that field in Uruguay, it may be hard to do. For this reason, it may be prudent to keep some money aside for plan B, just in case. Cheers
José on May 26th, 2007 4:09 pm

Hi Brazzie, thanks for the speedy response.
I am going to do a bit more research on this on the Internet, although there doesn’t seem to be much information about it. I wonder if around US$3,000 a month is too high an expectation? I just don’t have any points of reference.
Brazzie on May 26th, 2007 4:46 pm

You may want to post this question on the board (see link up on the very top) so others can have a chance to see it. Few people read the comments in older posts on a regular basis. Cheers
Richard on July 1st, 2007 1:54 pm

What is the expected annual rent on a furnished one bedroom apartment in a nice section of Montevideo?
Brazzie on July 1st, 2007 8:17 pm

Hi Richard, it depends on a number of factors such as square footage and how close you are to the Rambla, among other things. But if all you are looking for is for an example, I just searched in buscandocasa.com and found a great, furnished apartment two blocks from the Rambla in Pocitos (75 sqm) for USD 950 per month, plus condo fees. I saw another nice multi-bedroom with 150 sqm, also in Pocitos, for USD 1500, plus condo fees.

Nice, but not fabulous, one bedroom furnished apartments can be found in Pocitos for $650 per month plus condo fees. If you don’t mind very small apartments, you can find even cheaper.

Cost of Living in Uruguay

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