Dublin now second most expensive place in Europe to live – survey

Dublin is now the second most expensive city in Europe to live and work remotely and is pricier across a range of metrics than Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and more than two dozen other capitals, according to a new survey from neo-bank Bunq.

It is also over three times more expensive for people to establish a temporary working base than the cheapest capitals in Europe, the research suggests.

The only big city found to be more expensive for so-called digital nomads to set up shop is London.

Bunq’s Working Abroad Index analyses multiple data from open sources and suggests the average monthly expenses in Dublin for a growing cohort of people who work remotely across international borders have risen to €2,633.78 in 2024, a small jump on last year’s figure but enough to put Dublin into an unenviable second place in the price league.

While food costs have decreased slightly, rent for a one-bedroom apartment has climbed to €1,862 per month while co-working spaces are now more expensive due to the increased popularity of remote work.

According to Bunq, there are more than half a million “digital nomads” working out of Ireland for companies based all over the world and the fintech’s spokeswoman Bianca Zwart said that while “living a borderless lifestyle is exciting” it is “crucial to understand the financial realities of your chosen destination”.

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The monthly cost of working out of London was put at €3,227 and €2,634 in Dublin. Amsterdam was in third with the cost said to be €2,564 with Luxembourg and Copenhagen rounding out the top five.

At the other end of the scale, the most affordable cities were Bucharest, with an average monthly cost of €829, Sofia at €870 and Budapest, where monthly costs were put at €942.

For the index, the average costs for rent, groceries and utilities including electricity, heating, waste, mobile internet and home internet were priced while rental costs for one-bedroom apartments in and outside the city centre were considered, with averages calculated.

The study also looked at the cost of remote working spaces and public transport.

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