What retiring overseas really costs: a month in 10 places, from Penang to the Algarve

Is it cheaper to retire abroad?

On our estimates, yes, in all 10 places we priced. A month for a couple, rent included, came in under the A$6,580 a month that ASFA puts on a comfortable retirement for a couple in Australia. The range runs from about A$2,470 in Da Nang to A$5,560 in Christchurch.

The two figures are built differently, though. ASFA’s budget assumes you own your home, so it has no rent in it, and it does include private health insurance. Ours include rent and leave health insurance out. They are estimates. What your own month costs comes down to how you live and where you rent, plus however many flights home you take.

What does a month cost, place by place?

We give one figure per place, in Australian dollars with rent included, worked out in October 2026. Each country page uses the figure for the city shown.

Place	Numbeo figures used	A couple, a month	One person, a month
Da Nang, Vietnam	Da Nang	A$2,470	A$1,810
Penang, Malaysia	Penang	A$2,540	A$1,750
Chiang Mai, Thailand	Chiang Mai	A$2,790	A$1,950
Cebu, the Philippines	Cebu	A$2,930	A$2,070
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	A$3,190	A$2,290
Hua Hin, Thailand	Hua Hin	A$3,280	A$2,310
Bali, Indonesia	Bali	A$3,970	A$3,060
The Algarve, Portugal	Faro	A$4,570	A$3,420
Alicante, Spain	Alicante	A$4,860	A$3,570
Christchurch, New Zealand	Christchurch	A$5,560	A$4,140

Every place on one scale, for a couple

Da Nang

A$2,470

Penang

A$2,540

Chiang Mai

A$2,790

Cebu

A$2,930

Kuala Lumpur

A$3,190

Hua Hin

A$3,280

Bali

A$3,970

The Algarve

A$4,570

Alicante

A$4,860

Christchurch

A$5,560

• Our estimate for a month, rent included
• The most Age Pension paid in Australia: A$4,040 a month
• The full track: a comfortable month in Australia, A$6,580

Not built the same way: ASFA's comfortable budget (June quarter 2026) assumes you own your home and includes health insurance; our estimates include rent and leave health insurance out.

Rent does not halve when you live alone, so one person pays well over half of what a couple pays. In Penang, for example, one person needs about 69% of the couple’s figure.

How did we work these figures out?

In short, we take Numbeo’s living costs for one person (without rent), add a one-bedroom city-centre rent, then add 30% for eating out, local trips and extras. A couple’s living costs are the single figure times 1.8. Everything is converted at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s average exchange rate for the 12 months to September 2026 (A$1 = 22.44 baht, for example). Health insurance is left out.

Here it is step by step:

1. We take two figures from each place’s Numbeo page, in local money: the monthly living costs for one person without rent, and the rent for a one-bedroom flat in the city centre.
2. We convert both to Australian dollars at the RBA’s 12-month average rate (the table below).
3. One person: living costs plus rent, then 30% on top.
4. A couple: living costs times 1.8, plus the same rent, then 30% on top.
5. We round the result to the nearest A$10.

Currency	A$1 buys, on the RBA’s 12-month average to September 2026
Thai baht	22.44
Malaysian ringgit	2.80
Vietnamese dong	18,160
Indonesian rupiah	11,938
Philippine pesos	41.65
Euros	0.5957
New Zealand dollars	1.1883

The average is the mean of the RBA’s daily rates from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. Because the Australian dollar rose through 2026, our figures run a few per cent higher than they would at October 2026 rates. We used the average anyway, so that one odd week on the currency market doesn’t shift every figure on the site.

A worked example: Penang

Step	One person	A couple
Rent, one-bedroom flat in the centre (RM1,647.50)	A$590	A$590
Living costs (food, transport, bills)	A$760 (RM2,122.10)	A$1,360 (A$760 times 1.8)
Eating out, local trips and extras (30%)	A$400	A$590
Total	A$1,750	A$2,540

Each row is rounded to the nearest A$10, so the rows add up to the total.

What to know about the method

• Numbeo is built from what its users report, so treat it as a guide rather than an official price list.
• Numbeo has no Sanur page, so for Bali we used its Bali page. Its one-bedroom rent (about A$1,480) is far above Numbeo’s Denpasar figure (about A$530), which makes Bali’s figure look high to us.
• For Penang we used Numbeo’s Penang entry, which has a summary and more contributors than its George Town page.
• For the Algarve we used Faro. For Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Portugal, the country figure is the figure for Chiang Mai, Penang, Da Nang and Faro.
• If the Australian dollar weakens, every figure goes up.

One more thing: a short furnished let usually costs more than the long-term rent in our estimate.

How does that compare with retiring in Australia?

The usual Australian yardstick is the ASFA Retirement Standard, and its June quarter 2026 budgets are for people aged 65 to 84. Both the comfortable and modest budgets assume you own your home. Renters get a separate modest budget.

ASFA, June quarter 2026	A couple	One person
Comfortable	A$78,998 a year, about A$6,580 a month	A$56,166 a year, about A$4,680 a month
Modest	A$52,690 a year, about A$4,390 a month	A$36,548 a year, about A$3,050 a month
Modest, renting	A$69,376 a year, about A$5,780 a month	A$51,418 a year, about A$4,280 a month

ASFA’s comfortable budget includes top-level private health insurance. Our overseas figures have no health cover in them at all, so add the cost of international health insurance at your age before you compare the two.

Can I live overseas on the Age Pension?

Your Age Pension keeps paying overseas. The extras are what stop. After 6 weeks away the Energy Supplement stops and your Pensioner Concession Card is cancelled. After 12 weeks the Pension Supplement stops. If you leave to live overseas, all three stop on the day you leave and you are paid the outside-Australia rate. Our guide to the 6, 12 and 26-week rules sets out each step.

Age Pension, from 20 September 2026	A couple, combined	One person
Maximum rate in Australia	A$1,866.00 a fortnight, about A$4,040 a month	A$1,237.70 a fortnight, about A$2,680 a month
Base rate only, living overseas	A$44,506.80 a year, about A$3,710 a month	A$29,520.40 a year, about A$2,460 a month

These are maximum rates. Your own rate depends on the income and assets tests. After 26 weeks away it also depends on how long you lived in Australia between age 16 and pension age.

A couple: each place against ASFA and the pension

Place	A couple, a month	Under ASFA comfortable (A$6,580) by	Against the base rate overseas (A$3,710)	Against the maximum in Australia (A$4,040)
Da Nang	A$2,470	A$4,110	A$1,240 left	A$1,570 left
Penang	A$2,540	A$4,040	A$1,170 left	A$1,500 left
Chiang Mai	A$2,790	A$3,790	A$920 left	A$1,250 left
Cebu	A$2,930	A$3,650	A$780 left	A$1,110 left
Kuala Lumpur	A$3,190	A$3,390	A$520 left	A$850 left
Hua Hin	A$3,280	A$3,300	A$430 left	A$760 left
Bali	A$3,970	A$2,610	A$260 short	A$70 left
The Algarve	A$4,570	A$2,010	A$860 short	A$530 short
Alicante	A$4,860	A$1,720	A$1,150 short	A$820 short
Christchurch	A$5,560	A$1,020	A$1,850 short	A$1,520 short

One person: each place against ASFA and the pension

Place	One person, a month	Under ASFA comfortable (A$4,680) by	Against the base rate overseas (A$2,460)	Against the maximum in Australia (A$2,680)
Penang	A$1,750	A$2,930	A$710 left	A$930 left
Da Nang	A$1,810	A$2,870	A$650 left	A$870 left
Chiang Mai	A$1,950	A$2,730	A$510 left	A$730 left
Cebu	A$2,070	A$2,610	A$390 left	A$610 left
Kuala Lumpur	A$2,290	A$2,390	A$170 left	A$390 left
Hua Hin	A$2,310	A$2,370	A$150 left	A$370 left
Bali	A$3,060	A$1,620	A$600 short	A$380 short
The Algarve	A$3,420	A$1,260	A$960 short	A$740 short
Alicante	A$3,570	A$1,110	A$1,110 short	A$890 short
Christchurch	A$4,140	A$540	A$1,680 short	A$1,460 short

“Left” is what remains for health insurance, flights home and anything else. New Zealand is a special case: Services Australia says the social security agreement with New Zealand can change your payment from the day you arrive if you go there to live. Our New Zealand page explains how. For the full picture on the pension, see living overseas on the Age Pension.

What do these figures leave out?

They cover a settled month, once you’ve arrived and found a place. Left out are:

• Health insurance. Smartraveller says your age and health affect the cost and type of policy you need.
• Flights home to see family, or to Australia for medical care.
• Visa costs, and any money a visa needs you to hold in a local bank. Thailand’s retirement visa, for example, asks for 800,000 baht (about A$35,650) in a Thai bank or 65,000 baht a month of income (about A$2,900): see the Thailand retirement visa.
• Costs of a house you keep in Australia: rates, insurance and repairs.
• Setting up: bond, furniture, a phone and transport.

An example, not real people

Pat and Jim are 69 and 71. Both get the Age Pension, they rent in Australia, and they are thinking about moving to Da Nang for good.

	A month
Age Pension, base rate only, for a couple living overseas	A$3,710
A month in Da Nang for a couple, rent included (our estimate)	A$2,470
Left for health insurance, flights home and savings	A$1,240

On paper that looks comfortable. But Services Australia says moving overseas to live also stops Rent Assistance and cancels the Pensioner Concession Card on the day they leave, and their health insurance has to come out of that A$1,240 too. At 69 and 71, that is the number to get a quote on first. Our page for people aged 67 to 74 brings the other rules together.

If you’d like to talk your own numbers through, book a free planning session on Zoom.

What this means for you depends on

• Whether you are a couple or on your own (rent does not halve when you live alone).
• Whether you own a home in Australia, and what it costs to keep while you are away.
• Your Age Pension rate, which depends on your income, assets and years in Australia.
• How often you fly home, and how far.
• What health insurance costs at your age, and what it covers.
• The exchange rate.