Portugal is ranked fifth in the top 10 most expensive countries to work from home.

This research reveals the most expensive and cheapest countries to work from home. The 10 most expensive countries were: Barbados, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Australia, Ireland, Columbia, United Kingdom and Belgium.

The research assessed numerous things to gain the overall monthly cost for each country including the average monthly cost of a fixed-line broadband package, average price of 1GB mobile data, cost of electricity per kWh, cost to use laptop for eight hours, monthly cost to use a laptop, cost to use a light bulb for eight hours, monthly lighting cost, cost to use a boiler over four hours, monthly heating costs and the monthly cost to use a kettle.

According to the research: Portugal ranked fifth due to its overall monthly costs which was estimated at €309.88, due to spending on broadband, mobile data and basic utilities such as lighting, heating and to charge a laptop.

In terms of countries that ranked higher than Portugal, Barbados is in first place, with an overall monthly cost of €373.61, followed by Spain with €348.81, Germany with €337.93 and Denmark which ranked slightly higher than Portugal with €330.92. Countries with a slightly lower overall monthly cost than Portugal and in sixth place, was Australia with €284.37. Followed by Ireland with €272.91, Columbia with €264.62, the United Kingdom at €242.94 and in last place was Belgium with €238.50.

The research also obtained the top 10 countries that are the cheapest to work from home, with Azerbaijan being the cheapest with an overall monthly cost of €71.42. The countries that followed were: Ukraine with €83.54, Singapore with €97.57, Russia with €105.22, Turkey with €119.25, Bangladesh with €134.56, Argentina with €143.49, Austria with €149.87, Bahrain with €169.03 and finally Malaysia with €169.65.

The research stated that “at the other end of the scale, those working from home in countries such as Ukraine and Azerbaijan could be paying as little as €71.42 per month for the same amenities while they work from home. Broadband costs were as little as €4.23 per month in Ukraine, while the ultra-low cost of 32 cents per kWh of electricity in Azerbaijan means that there, it’ll cost as little as 29 cents to charge a laptop each day for a month.”

Overall, this research highlights how expensive working from home is around the world, particularly in Portugal.
The report emphasises that working from home has impacted most people’s pockets, in terms of broadband usage, keeping our lights and heating on whilst working. This added expense is due to the “outbreak of Covid-19 which has led to one of the most significant changes to our working lives that the world has ever seen: millions of people have left the office behind to work from home. For some, working from home was already part of their regular working routine. For many, it’s a whole new way of doing things.”

Author

Following undertaking her university degree in English with American Literature in the UK, Cristina da Costa Brookes moved back to Portugal to pursue a career in Journalism, where she has worked at The Portugal News for 3 years. Cristina’s passion lies with Arts & Culture as well as sharing all important community-related news.

Cristina da Costa Brookes