How a New Type of Immigration Is Radically Changing Portugal’s Economy

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In this video, we explore the dramatic changes in Portugal's economy driven by the influx of digital nomads. Discover how warm sandy beaches, vibrant culture, excellent internet speeds, and affordable living costs have transformed Portugal into a top destination for remote workers from high-income countries. We delve into the benefits, like increased spending on local goods and services and investment in businesses, particularly in Lisbon, where cafes, coworking spaces, and the tourism sector thrive.
However, this boom isn't without its downsides. Rising housing prices and rent due to the demand from digital nomads are creating challenges for local residents. We examine the complex balance Portugal faces between economic growth and local affordability.
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[@hououinkyouma1458]

The irony is that you guys are a digital nomad as well.

[@ohyeahyeah5246]

where can i see the actual leaderboard?

[@sunnyrainyday6820]

@@EconomicsExplained thank you for your Professionalism in this economic analysis that has made sure to steer clear of politics of Europeans “migrant question”

[@youxkio]

This confirms the situation and reason why I left Portugal in 2011. Still the same.

[@EnclaveEmily]

Portuguese person here. I just want to add that the "affordable cost of living" is a myth (yes, completely). Its only "affordable" or "great" if you get salaries from much richer countries like Germany, The UK and the US. This is why so many of the workers are remote. If you actually get an average Portuguese salary, the cost of living is brutal and one of the worst in Europe after tax as well. The flood of much richer people coming to get salaries from elsewhere but enjoy our relative prices has made it so the average portuguese person simply can not live on their own with any quality superior to "horrible". My mother is a surgeon, she's past the age of doing night shifts, still does them yet struggles to take care of me (uni student) and my little brother (14) without needing physical and financial help from my almost 80 year old grandmother. Most people can expect to live with their parents up until their LATE THIRTIES and even when they leave the house, quality is sub-par at best more often than not. (Edit: more than 50% of my mother's wage gets discounted in taxes) This gets worse when you consider the non-western migration. Portuguese people get their hopes stolen by people who drive up prices due to their wealth, and then we get migration from countries full of people willing to work jobs for salaries and conditions much lower than what an average person would find reasonable. I know a very hard working mechanic who works 10 hours a day (sometimes 13) with tools that wouldn't pass inspection in nearby Spain only to get a pre--tax salary that can't be described as anything other than "average" (given the national context). Please stop with this language that even implies that our cost of living is somehow fantastic. Its one of the worst in Europe for people who live here. An 18 year old retail worker in the US will pocket more money after tax than I will with my master's degree in the area I will work in. I spend more (relative to the money i have) on groceries than my financial equivalent does in the average UK city. Living here is brutal, financially speaking. I will NEVER be able to afford even RENT or a house/apartment in a city on my salary, even if I got married to someone slightly better off than me. Much less actually afford to buy a home of my own. I'm luckier, since I don't intend to live anywhere that is described as anything larger than a "town", but I'm the odd one out and even still the cost to quality ratio is not looking good.

[@aliceblue5634]

I totally agree here. Affordable for the expats with 40k salaries (which is insane in Portugal). 😢

[@culttelevision]

It's globalist neocolonlism through the back door. Replace the Portuguese on the high end skills , replace the Portuguese on the low end skills with super cheap slave immigrant labour. The only losers are the native population.

[@alexdolotov6554]

Thank you for sharing this!

[@intellectualuser2244]

This is how the rest of the world lives. Say hi to Estado Novo regime and your colonial past.

[@aldozilli1293]

Plus you export all your best people. UK is full of Portuguese engineers, architects etc. and so is rest of Northern Europes

[@TheAlexgoodlife]

Portugal is in a unique situation where it gets alot of digital nomads and third world immigration whilst having low salaries for its cost of living. The nomads raise the prices of goods and housing, and the other immigrants ensure that wages are kept low, literally tugging the population on both sides and suffocating the average citizen

[@lc86_65]

This comment should be at the top because it's 100% this. We are squeezed in the middle by the very rich foreigners that are buying up the country and by the non-Western immigrants that are keeping the wages low... rich getting richer and poor getting poorer!

[@nikitapoberezkin6571]

It’s not unique at all, it’s happening all around the world, I am a digital nomad and I see that wherever I go. And believe me, most of the digital nomads, are nomads for a reason(guess which, their countries are fucked up), not on a whim

[@hetalia74]

Not unique at all! Look at Puerto Rico!

[@amezitroll3670]

Não são os nomadas digitais que sobem o preco das casas tozé. Os nom dig são menos de 0.1% da populacao imigrante. A imigracao de terceiro mundo é que sobe o preco das casas porque alugam casas para 10/20/30+ pessoas. Há estudos sobre isto em praticamente toda a EU mas aqui na tuga à tabu de separar imigrantes nas estatisticas e a narrativa retardada da extrema esquerda sobre a habitacao é o mainstream...

[@Press2GetTheCookie]

Immigration from poor countries isn’t happening all around the world neither the amount of digital nomads that Portugal is getting. At the rate that it is going is quite unique.

[@getnohappy]

It's actually quite impressive how much damage Air b&b has done to cities around the world.

[@hemlock40]

It is immeasurable, the damage. But their customers exploited big weaknesses in those cities' bad rent control laws, lack of investment in more housing units, and regulations that failed to keep up with the changes. Also, the nimbyism (not in my back yard) of existing residents of those cities that blocked most attempts to construct new housing.

[@getnohappy]

@@hemlock40 it is most certainly multifaceted and there is plenty of structural blame. Though Air BnB are the epitome of Tech Bro 'we're technically not X service so lol, should have stopped us' indifferent mindset

[@gargoyle7863]

The only one who did more damage to European cities is Hermann Goering.

[@shauncameron8390]

Air BnB is the consequence of rent control and government over-regulation of the housing market.

[@konraddobson]

It should be banned worldwide imo. Same with investors owning residential properties that sit empty to drive up prices.

[@Sir.suspicious]

The fact is that All migration to Portugal is damaging now, there's no houses, we've been thrown out of homes because of the digital nomads and at the same time cheap labor from the third world keeps wages extremely down because the average portuguese now has to compete with people who take ANY wage, driving wages down

[@hernandayolearyallda]

Lol, now you see how great colonialism is when you are on the receiving end of it. Just wait until the new colonizer blame your culture for your own condition.

[@Futures62]

The centre of Portugal is empty, most villages have at least 50% vacant / empty houses. Here, Portuguese struggle to get workers because they say no locals want to work, our local olive oil press closed because people would not work or they just spent their first wages on alcohol and didn't come back

[@darkdave1998]

There's very little work in rural Portugal, and the work that is there is usually low wage harsh labour, and there's very poor amenities in the area. Latifundiários have ensured the area stays undeveloped for centuries

[@TheChannelofOrange]

Nice to see Portugal featured. Government here doesn’t understand that they need to lower taxes for locals, not foreigners

[@hemlock40]

The government needs to find a balance. Portugal depends heavily on foreign investment to fuel much of its economic success, but it needs to structure that success to create more housing and higher wages. Higher wages means more tax revenue.

[@user-bz6nt2ez5q]

They aren't stupid (they make as think they are) so it might be well part of the agenda.

[@mrm2204]

@@user-bz6nt2ez5qdont confuse greed for planning. 🤣

[@jacklaurentius6130]

lol the left will call you racist

[@shauncameron8390]

@@jacklaurentius6130 Yet interestingly, Portugal is run by the left.

[@_Azurael_]

I live in Porto. My parents have a small appartment in the center of the city. I had to move to the periphery for my first appartment (still inside Porto's metropolitan area) I am a software engineer. I have a decent salary, specially compared to the rest of the Portuguese population, and I still can't afford any appartment in the area I grew up in.

[@Yuhyuhmuhmuh]

😭

[@ctb1977]

Your parents have benefitted greatly from the price of their apartment going then. One day you'll probably inherit that property, so overall you're benefiting

[@harlem_777]

And you still support government donating money to Ukraine

[@ivanshershnev9531]

Tbh, local salaries in Portugal in SWE are a joke. I had some recruiters reaching out from the country, but they were laughed at and sent elsewhere. Better blame them

[@_Azurael_]

@@ctb1977 dunno about that. Its a good appartment, but its not that big and its getting old. Its getting to the point were it needs alot of investment, from exterior walls, to roof, to the elevator, etc.

[@renato3686]

You guys have no idea how incredibly expensive Lisbon and Porto in Portugal have become in the space of just 7-8 years, to the point it's stupid. And with the gentrification of tourists and digital nomads, it seems like a totally different city / place to live compared with what was some years ago. My friends that still live there say they have no chance than to leave the country because they can't afford it anymore. I had to leave it as well so I could afford to just live by myself.

[@hemlock40]

Were your only choices to live in Lisbon or Porto, or you had to leave the country? Those cities are only a small part of Portugal.

[@Koba1t]

I visited portugal a couple weeks ago. It was insane how in some parts of lisbon it feels like there are moe tourists than Portuguese!

[@diogocarvalho2934]

Yeah, a couple of years ago the city centres were ghost cities..

[@oscarmachado9607]

Bom bom era o Porto dos anos 2000 tudo a cair de podre e só putas, chulos e traficantes de droga. Eu lembro bem pois foi quando fui pra lá morar. Na altura toda a gente queria mudar pra Gaia, Matosinhos ou Maia. Agora que o pessoal investiu pra arrendar a turistas e nómadas digitais todos querem um apartamento no centro por 300€ 😂😂😂

[@stariyczedun]

@@hemlock40 jobs are scarce outside of Lisbon and Porto.

[@thelusogerman3021]

A minumum wage worker in the netherlands would classify as medium-high to high income here in Portugal. Meanwhile rent prices in Lisbon are the same as in Amsterdam. How does this make any sense?

[@No14210]

No worries, a minimum wage worker in Amsterdam can't afford to live in Amsterdam either. So all the misery is divided fairly.

[@goncalodias6402]

​@No14210 yes, but an average worker in Amsterdam can come live in Lisbon and work remotely, thats the problem

[@redrosin99]

@@goncalodias6402 an average worker in Portugal can relocate to another European country and live comfortably

[@goncalodias6402]

@@redrosin99 theres a big difference between a person moving to a country because its cheaper and a normal immigrant

[@KINGPINmedia]

@@redrosin99 room temperature IQ

[@diegopozas1694]

As a spaniard this is not new. The whole south of Europe is suffering the same kind of problem. That is why cities like Barcelona are banning Airbnb and other similar services, because of their impact in the housing market. I think we europeans should reconsider the effects of over-tourism and digital nomads for the local populations and act accordingly on a personal level. Choose hotels before airbnbs, choose destinations with sustainable tourism policies in place, choose places that are not overcrowded. Travelling somewhere "cheap" might look like a great idea until you start to think why actually that place is so "cheap".

[@riskinhos]

this isn't about tourism. it's about migration.

[@pedroantoniodacruzferreira1487]

Hungary is doing well. At least Orban is protecting the Hungarians and not the EU!

[@SURF4LIFE84]

I live in Portugal. It's almost impossible for locals to afford normal life...

[@nothingham4742]

Perfect ❤

[@killap3nguin]

So you are saying government creating inflation makes your life worse? Ya shouldn’t have turned off your country to the ECB

[@EnclaveEmily]

thank you for pointing this out.

[@EnclaveEmily]

@@killap3nguin Its not just the inflation. Its literally everything.

[@gringogreen4719]

I live in Arizona and I lived in Nevada before that and Californians did that to many of the Western States in the US. So I feel your pain.

[@brunosousa9264]

You documentary is not part, but missed a BIG part of the problem. Digital Nomads is one, the NRH (low tax benefits for foreigns) is another, and the big elephant in the room that you missed, Portugal relaxed the rules in 2018 for non skill workers, and we have been flooded with people from India/Paquistan, they can work or stay here for a few years and then get a Portuguese passport (low language requirements) and from there you can go legal to the EU. its about 100k new people per year. it is funny that you did a video about Portugal immigration and left out the number one factor that is changing Portugal society.

[@JKemp-vq9xh]

Was thinking the same thing, the people in the comments complain about the people actually buying things in the country and helping put more money into the economy but won't say anything about illegal immigrants/ refugees living off the tax payers dime.

[@stereo-soulsoundsystem5070]

100k per year doesn't sound like a bigger problem than digital nomads

[@azelucy1798]

@@stereo-soulsoundsystem5070 it is much worse

[@Genericman1000]

With regards to impacts on rents and house prices, wouldnt indian/Pakistani immigrants have less impact than these high income digital nomads, as they would enter the country with significantly less wealth ?

[@MrxBako]

Nah, you only hate poor people

[@Jakekhalid32]

I've always wanted to put $300K into the stock market but i need an approach that will align with my risk tolerance and financial goals to secure our future..

[@laiibrahim7502]

It is very easy to buy in on trending stocks but the problem is knowing when to sell or hold, which is why a coach is important. I've been in touch with one for about a year now and although I was initially skeptical about it, I will say I've made more progress within a year generating 6figure profit

[@stanleyzac1648]

That makes sense. Unlike us, you seem to have the market figured out. Who’s your fiduciary?

[@Jakekhalid32]

I think I'm also interested in knowing the person.

[@laiibrahim7502]

Dustin Dwain King is the licensed fiduciary I use. Just research the name. You’d find necessary details to work with a correspondence to set up an appointment..

[@stanleyzac1648]

Thank you for the tip. It was easy to find your coach. I did my due diligence before scheduling a phone call with him, and he seems highly proficient based on his résumé.

[@saydvoncripps]

It's happening everywhere. Try buying a home in Paris, London, Rome, Copenhagen...or most of the UK, or France or anywhere. Homes are now a commodity first, a place to live a poor second. There's rich folk with asset portfolios full of homes. They don't care that means homes are not affordable, only that their 'stock' goes up in value. They suck up new builds, and grab land. That's the truth. Unless something is done to stop them or curb their activity things will get worse. Taxing non domicile owners is one way of limiting what they can get out of it.

[@benghiskahn3673]

Exactly. Its the same everywhere. Especially since Covid when Governments handed out hundreds of billions to the rich who just used that money to buy the safest assets around:- housing stock. Governments all over Europe and North America need to get a grip on this issue otherwise we will very soon be returning to a form of neo-feudalism.

[@rogueninja185]

The housing problem in Portugal is beyond its capital, Lisbon, so your comparison is a bit off the mark. Even small towns in the interior are priced as much as 80% the minimum wage. People cant afford a rent let alone buy a house...

[@ThomasLloyd-w5q]

i've always said use it or lose it. so many properties are left empty for decades that could be put to use, and end up as a ruin. many years ago many europeans used to say that a house was somewhere to live and not be treated as a commodity. that wasn't the case in the UK where for decades a house was treated as a tradeable asset, and people constantly buying a house, upgrading it and selling within a few years to realise a profit. a favourite topic of conversation was the weather, but now its "do you know how much my house is worth?".

[@flexkaike9346]

"affordable cost of living" LOL, here in portugal cost of living is only really affordable if you get paid other countries salaries or don't need to pay rent because housing is VERY EXPENSIVE

[@fs7699]

so how much would a single bedroom apartment be in the city center? in Euros per square meter?

[@goncalodias6402]

​​@@fs7699 about 2000€ or more. For a studio

[@MiguelCatana]

@@fs7699prices start easily at 1,000€ for old, poorly maintained buildings with humidity and insulation issues. According to the lastest data, the average salary in Portugal is 1,368€

[@Pleunpleunpleun]

@@fs7699 You would also have to ask for an average income.

[@HeathenDance]

Portugal is such a poor country! Restaurants are closing, shops are closing, shopping malls are completely empty, no cars in the streets, specially fancy ones, people dressed up poorly, with unbranded clothes, cell phones, computers, video game systems, no one buys these things in great number in Portugal, because, well Portuguese are so poor and miserable! - IRONY MODE ON.

[@suu566]

Don't come here, thanks.

[@bernardopedro4441]

Don't be an idiot thanks

[@ctb1977]

Any hate towards immigrants is dumb. Disliking high immigration is perfectly reasonable, in that case you should direct your frustration towards policy makers. Not the immigrants

[@demitskill9103]

nobody asks you hahaha people are going to move in right next to you because nobody gives a 💩 what you think

[@suu566]

@@ctb1977 I was quite polite for you to label it as "hate".

[@POLARTTYRTM]

​@suu566 get colonized back due to skill issue.

[@TomasCatarino]

I'm from Portugal and I can say that everything is costly and the government doesn't care about us Portuguese; they do nothing to help.

[@mamsf3]

Why would they care if they can just import brazilians to replace you and then import indians to replace them?

[@dan_kay]

And that's not going to change with those right-wing assholes that are governing us now.

[@ml48963]

Is it just me or has your speaking speed increased over the years? I'm actually having trouble following your more recent videos since it goes too fast

[@BotDetector-44]

There's a slow down button on KZbin, use it rather than bitching about

[@theodore6288]

I think he does it in order to increase watch time because it makes it sorter

[@ml48963]

@@theodore6288 Yeah I think so too. Just a shame since I end up having to rewind often now, negating any benefit faster speech would have.

[@luka3174]

@@ml48963 us real men watch it on 2x speed

[@benjaminchen8857]

Yes, EE, please slow down the video slightly. I’ve been watching the series since forever, and while I appreciate you not wasting my time by repeating information, I think we’re getting to the limit of comprehensibility

[@guilhermefernandes222]

The real problem with immigration is not digital nomads coming in and increasing house prices. I’ve not met a single one in my city, yet house prices are sooaring. Migth create a problem in Lisbon but not in the rest of the country. The real immigration problem is with low skill migrants coming in form india and former portuguese colonies, and they are arring in the hundreds of thousands every year, obviously creating high demand in an already low supply housing market Furthermore if we are going to accept immigrants, we should accept digital nomads that come here and create startups, not 3rd world low skill migrants which are perpetuating low pay in all sectors, from tourism in the algarve, agriculture in Alentejo and manufacturing jobs in Northen and Central Portugal. Before we were having labour shortages, employers were going to have to increase pay and conditions to attract workers. The migrants now come here and accept anything for minimum wage

[@Mick_Unfiltered]

You nailed it.

[@PedroAlves-le2id]

While this is not totally untrue doesn't paint the whole history because house and rent prices have become to expensive even before this.

[@ekcoualfamusic-9367]

They live like rats incide a single apartment, in my area they even found recently a warehouse full of them. Because they live together like the slums and don't actually mind, they end up saving a lot of money that later ends up being sent to family back home, where grows exponentially in value due to their crappy currency. Locals cannot compete much less demand higher wages and end up having to accept low pays at the risk of being unemployed. Modern slavery at it's best...

[@guilhermefernandes222]

@@PedroAlves-le2id Certo, já estavam a ficar caras, mas o problema extrapolou. Nunca vamos conseguir um equilíbrio entre oferta e demanda habitacional a este ritmo de entrada de pessoas

[@albuck3347]

This is just incorrect. That is a side effect of the increase in prices, not the cause.

[@kjddkkxwkdkdi955]

Didn't know living in prague costs so much more than living in prague.... kinda breaks my heart ngl

[@Kaizzer]

As far as I can read around, Prague is a living Disneyland, dominated by B&B and tourism

[@nunyabidness3075]

Prague is no longer “Prague”. You cannot step into the same river twice. I recommend Buenos Aires. It’s on the way up. Maybe Poland?

[@nightmark2120]

@@Kaizzer Anyone know when he ranked the USA?

[@ohyeahyeah5246]

he means 5:30

[@Frpar123]

@@nunyabidness3075 Why do you want to destroy Buenos Aires or Poland? Let them do that for themselves. They're in the good way to it.

[@Hanuman0813]

In Cost of Living Index Graph (5:30) is Prague twice.

[@MrRobcher]

In prague the avarage salary is over 1500 euros and its not impossible to get more and rents are decent if you go outside proague

[@nightmark2120]

@@MrRobcher Anyone know when he ranked the USA?

[@serebii666]

@@MrRobcher The Average salary in Prague is 2225 Euros brutto, which comes out to 1740 EUR netto.

[@NeoZeta]

Portuguese here living in Prague. The minimum salary here is very rare and the average is around 1800€. But the salary I have here (which is closer to 4000€) and type of job and its benwfits is very difficult to get in Portugal. And even though I'm very much in the center of Prague, my rent is still quite affordable. In Portugal would be difficult to find a whole apartment to myself for that price, even in the peripheries, let alone the center.

[@allbrandsstorecompareprice8374]

Good to know. Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis... move to Eastern Europe where the wages are better. Go away.

[@haydnlainchbury5847]

The cost of living is making it impossible to live here, the prices are inline with more developed countries and adequate for these immigrants yet the Portuguese wage is terrible and very highly taxed, we earn after tax about 740€ yet to rent a small single bedroom in a shared apartment with utilities can be around 500€ it is forcing us out to make space for these immigrants.

[@redrosin99]

You don't get the hint. The government doesn't want you to stay there. Find a useful job and leave.

[@haydnlainchbury5847]

@@redrosin99 I was born here,work here and study here. my parents live and work here since the 80s but I don’t know if i will be able to afford to move out

[@haydnlainchbury5847]

@@redrosin99 I’m not an immigrant here 😅

[@allbrandsstorecompareprice8374]

@haydnlainchbury5847 Unfortunately, this is what Brussels is aiming for: to destroy the nations of Europe. Brussels is in charge of migration policy in Europe. States are no longer independent. We are subject to the law of technocrats not elected by the people, who impose deadly policies. This is extremely serious. We need to leave the European Union and regain control of our borders, leave the euro and the CEDH.

[@DBBravo]

Reminder that the term "expat" is a fancy way they have to say that they are immigrants. My dad came from the US to Spain, many years ago and that's where I grew up and live in. He hates the term expat and proudly says that he is an immigrant

[@Entertainment-]

Cope harder, immigrants are people from poor countries coming to a wealthier country, expats are the opposite.

[@AKK5I]

It's for wh*te ppl

[@pedazodetorpedo]

Maybe he is an immigrant if he stayed that long. An expat is generally a temporary resident, normally for tax purposes. The foreigners living in Dubai are not immigrants, they can never get citizenship and only stay a few years

[@reaux3921]

Woke yank 🥱

[@reaux3921]

Expat = rich or from developed country. A Brazilian ain’t no expat 😂💀

[@pg1282]

How is it possible that the small influx of nomads using a visa scheme started in 2022 is blamed for a price increase trend which started around 2015? How does it make any sense? Feels more like deep-rooted problems (like what most of the world is experiencing now) but it's easy to get angry at a small number of people who make more money than us.

[@jhnfjhh7037]

Airbnb was quite a big thing even in 2015

[@jeanjacqueslundi3502]

Small? Portugal is a 10M people country. These "small" changes have huge impact. And the rate of these changes is exponential eafch year. It's a small time frame, but maybe if you were intelectually honest you'd contrast it with Portugal back in 2017 even....and see the difference.

[@Daniel-py6rd]

This is a problem in all big cities now, not just Portugal or places with digital nomads. It is due to mass immigration to third world cities and also property being used as an investment rather than a place to live. As inequality increases the rich but up multiple properties. Also immigration causing more competition for available properties. I don't think digital nomads are a big factor as this is happening in cities where digital nomads aren't even a thing.

[@phoenixmetazoa]

Using remote workers as scapegoats for rising living costs seems like low hanging fruit. Real estate prices are inflated in every major city in the world, Lisbon is just late to the party. In Detroit, the median home price has shot up 217% over the last decade. How many digital nomads are flocking to Detroit? This is just what happens when you treat homes like investments. Every homeowner and investor has interest in the value of their property increasing, even if it makes it harder for the next person to afford

[@jimbobbby]

All property is theft man. You get it.

[@rafazdeb4242]

This should be a top comment 👌

[@PureAlbania]

Until 2015 I've never seen a single US citizen in Portugal. The rent of a studio was 350€ in city centre. Now there's Americans all over the place, they talk louder than Europeans so it's easy to notice. Rents are 1000€ for the same place. Of course it has its influence. In the city centre of Lisbon and Porto prices of entire buildings have gone up 500% in 10 year period

[@felix2uber200]

@@jimbobbby hes not saying that you commie, shush

[@JamesJohnson-kl1eu]

@@PureAlbania and this is because of the greed of the people who own the home. 14000 people aren't going to raise prices that much when there are over 500k people there

[@evaristoabrahao2216]

It's not about living, but owning and renting. That has nearly nothing to do with digital nomads either. How many are they in the whole world? All of them chose Portugal? And it's certainly not about underskilled emigration, since Portugal is the poorest country in Western Europe and over 80 or 90% of imigrants there come from former colonies, like Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, whose income is far under the average portuguese, driving migrants to the countryside, where living is also quite expensive (but not unaffordable). The thing is, about ten or fifteen years ago, during Passos Coelho government, Portugal aimed to atract foreign investiment by offering portuguese citizenship in exchange. That's a UE citizenship. Soon enough, a few thousand russian and chinese were able to buy half of Lisbon and Porto and most of them never set their foot in Portugal nor intend to. Everything comes with a price.

[@zelkovas]

It's very frustrating to see people easily blaming CPLP citizens when we also come from a very poor background. CPLP citizens are also struggling. The key problem are the wealthy investitors from rich oligarchies like Russia and China that managed to buy everything and destroy the local environment.

[@bananasaur5209]

And the governments since then haven't done much either.

[@shawnpedro4008]

Brother, you don't always hit the mark. Still I always loved videos and understand it comes with territory. But this is horrible. You missed so much and the situation is so dysfunctional. Our banking system has constant failures, growth is stagnant for years. The migration waves out of Portugal from people who study there. The influx of people - yikes man.

[@Prinznero]

Earning arbitrage is exactly the business model of global IT service suppliers. Run projects in high salary countries with low salary staff.

[@itemushmush]

yup. i work for a large US software company and as someone who lives in the UK, we are a third or less in salary than a role which is US-based. not to mention india is a third of OUR salary too!

[@pluto8404]

something is broken when someone in the world is able to do the same job for a tenth of the price.

[@vladys5238]

​@@pluto8404what's broken is capitalism and the fact the development of the western world has relied on the exploitation of the rest of the world for centuries these "cost-of-living adjusted" salaries just make that fact obvious. The job obviously is worth to them the highest salary they are willing to pay for the highest COL location. If they wouldn't make profit paying that salary they wouldn't pay. They just want to find someone desperate enough they can exploit them more and squeeze even more profit out of the transaction.

[@tobiascornille]

Huh? How can a digital nomad population of 16k (on a total population of >500k) explain such drastic increases in prices?

[@SRC692]

Exactly, If they want to make things more affordable for locals they need to cut the tax rate for those locals. Getting rid of foreigners isn't the solution. The government is reintroducing those tax benefits for foreigners because their economy needs it with the current structure

[@nm5612]

It’s also the Airbnb issue for tourists and golden visa attributing, same thing happening in Athens Greece

[@patrickd9551]

Because you need to blame somebody and if you can put the blame on tourists instead of your own politics of course. But in fact it's all about supply and demand. Sure, Lisbon has 500k people, but how many homes are there available? Currently there are 12k homes listed, of which only 2000 or so below 300k purchase price. And therein lies the main issue. If you supply of cheap homes is low, the those will compete (and rise) for low incomes. Those 16k digital nomads are primarily competing for those lower priced houses and those prices are driven up. Add to that the rise of AirBNB in the previous decade and you have a perfect storm in the making. The answer is simple. Build cheap houses. Make sure your supply for cheap houses be kept on par with demand. That way all price brackets will remain fairly stable.

[@killianlobato27]

There is also the quiet people who are the offspring of baby boomers. There is a huge transfer of capital occurring between these generations. The result is that there is a group of middle aged people who have capital which is not reflected on their income. Easily half a million to a million is assets or bank deposits but with only an anual income of 50K euros. Remember that the price of housing is defined by how much down payment people can give, and then how much they are willing to pay monthly to pay off the mortgage. If you have 200 or 300K to put down, you can easily ask for 200K mortgage - sale price is then 500 to 600K.

[@borisj]

Golden visa is the culprit, not the digital nomads.

[@samuxan]

On paper remote work should have the opposite effect on the housing crisis, if people don't have to commute to downtown the prices there would be lower with maybe a slight increased on rural areas or suburbia. That's why I'm all in with work from home schemes a few times a week or a few weeks per month. The problem is when a full remote work allows for travel and the inequity between countries displaces the local population. that's a real problem where I'm from up to the point where not even tourist will visit because no one can afford to live as a receptionist or bartender to cater to them because the discrepancies in rent prices

[@chillin5703]

No, it's a problem within a country too. Lots of poor Midwestern states are trying to incentivize remote workers to promote the economy, ignoring that they're basically asking to create colonies in their cities where out of state workers with little interest in their communities move in solely for lower pricing.

[@HubertGeorge]

New Yorkers and Californians have descended on the rest of earth like the scourge.

[@gargoyle7863]

@@chillin5703 Those colonies needn't to be bad: if those digital nomads spend enough in retail, bars and cafes local economy profits. If this colonies grow to fast and the housing sector can't keep up it's a problem.

[@chillin5703]

@@gargoyle7863 local economic benefit is not good unless the local population is experiencing significant entry into the industries new wealth is bringing in. If not, you end up with stratification where locals end up being essentially service.

[@joaquimlopes257]

​@@chillin5703you just described what tge portuguese government wants of the portuguese people 😂

[@shack1975]

This all makes sense, but extreme gentrification is happening in cities all over the world, including the U.S., where housing in urban areas is no longer affordable for those providing services and basic goods.

[@moledaddy]

The worst part about gentrification in the US is that it pushed urban trash into formerly family-friendly suburbs.

[@ninjacats1647]

Gentrification is just another term that showcases how migration increases inflation and the cost of living in an area. Gentrification critics usually have a myopic view of the subject, and choose to focus mostly on white migrants to urban areas and how they affect the cost of living in an area - it is mostly a US term, as I haven't seen it used in a non American context. But in reality, migration in general causes a spike in the cost of living as more people (demand) puts pressure on the scarce resources of a neighborhood. A small to moderate amount of migration is usually not that bad, its when migration gets to out of control levels that neighborhoods suffer from cost of living issues. In that regard, gentrification critics are not wrong, they are, as I said before, myopic in there criticism of migration. Furthermore, given unregulated migration's tendency to contribute to political destabilization, regulating migration is a political imperative to maintain a stable, healthy, democracy. For instance, we would never have a far right in most western countries if migration was well regulated. It is important than democratic nations engage in policies to maintain a politically stable environment that wards off the rise of extremism, and the mass migration policies of the past decade were a textbook example of what not to do if one wants to sustain a politically stable democracy. Also of note, that countries like Japan and South Korea don't have a far right anti-immigration party, because those countries never enabled mass immigration in the first place. Mass immigration politically irresponsible, and more so when it is unregulated.

[@user-en9ku1le6i]

It you compare housing construction rate per capita in Japan and South Korea with Portugal, you have the answer on why rents are lower

[@shack1975]

@@ninjacats1647 I agree with everything you said. I was just using the term ‘gentrification’ as shorthand for the effects and causes you described.

[@JamielDeAbrew]

@@user-en9ku1le6i you could also look at the birth rate in Japan and the immigration rate in Japan. If a country has a declining population (like Japan) rents will decrease because demand is decreasing.

[@gabbamoreno]

The nose mask lady telling the other person about social distancing at 2:40 killed me 😂

[@pedazodetorpedo]

She was a covid Karen

[@ricnyc2759]

As a Brazilian that has Portuguese last names (Soares and Almeida) and no connection with Portugal. I have to tell you this: the country is small and it CAN NOT absorb a huge wave of immigration. Any big influx of people can change the country in a few years. You folks have to figure out what to do to preserve your culture.

[@ghfudrs93uuu]

rapaz, estou em Belém comendo um bolinho de bacalhau neste instante. Morrer Portugal não morre.

[@user-bz6nt2ez5q]

​@@ghfudrs93uuuisso é para mamar dinheiro do turista só, enquanto der dinheiro, isso nao para de vender, nem que seja so indianos envolvidos nisso.

[@frankstrawnation]

​@@ghfudrs93uuuPortugal já foi dominado pelos romanos, pelos bárbaros germânicos e pelos muçulmanos. Portugal é uma salada de frutas de influências e realmente não tem que se preocupar com "contaminação" cultural.

[@Azzam_Alqudsi]

The economy is the key. Look at Japan, when the US controlled its economy. Japan went from highly traditional Japanese ways of life into a secluded lonely rat race of Westernizations. Look at the UK, after enslaving 2/3rd of the world and loosing it all within the last 75yrs and turned it into a size if a few Futball stadiums, It changed UK from anglo-saxons into multi-ethnic nation, just like the Roman empire.

[@wackaflack1990]

Brasil e minha favorita!

[@presignum9015]

Greate Video, but a slight mistake in your "Paid full days worked from home per week" graph. In the Europe section, Norway and Poland is on the same line skewing the positions of all countries in Europe.

[@barbarabrooks4747]

If Portugal required digital nomads staying more than one month to live in a smaller city, town or rural area that has been depopulated. Obviously, it would take more recordkeeping and government follow up, but doing so would yield economic benefits to scenic, but depressed areas.

[@BernasLL]

Yep. But there's no political insentive for it. Money-making policies are hoarded by the big cities, since that's where wealthy decision makers of the main parties live, they only care about businessmen in their areas since that's who's in their ear. And regional politicians are dependent on centralized party powers for their massive campaign resources. Portugal needs to be regionalized on a structural basis, starting with banning politicians running for regions they don't have a life in.

[@RicardoLopes-mx2oe]

That's a very good point! There could be an incentive for digital nomads to live in smaller towns, being the cost of living cheaper than major cities and as long as internet quality is high enough.

[@frankstrawnation]

If there's something that this world doesn't need more is bureaucracy.

[@johndutton349]

95% of them won't and would prefer to leave (which would actually be a good thing). They all have a short-term focused hedonistic lifestyle, they want to live in their English-speaking bubble and treat their host countries like Disneyland.

[@Mightydoggo]

You could probably make such rural areas attractive to digital nomads with ease, but that would require good infrastructure and such improvements are massively expensive and often not even affordable for "rich" countries on a larger scale. Also encouraging small business culture would may help.

[@Lemmy4555]

I work for a US company in Lisbon as EU citizen, and honestly thinking about moving because it's becoming unaffordable even for me lol

[@youxkio]

This confirms the situation and reason why I left Portugal in 2011. Still the same.

[@lao-ce8982]

It’s not only Airbnb, but real estate moguls who buy up buildings in all European cities to manipulate the housing prices. If you walk in any bigger city in Europe and just look up in the center of the city, most of the flats are abandoned and standing empty. We have to regulate the amount of properties that a person/company/hedge fund can purchase…

[@redrosin99]

@lao-ce8982 you can't manipulate prices in a free market. The Portuguese government is corrupt and stupid. The Portuguese people are very lazy. They don't construct enough apartments so there is a lack of real estate.

[@MrRobcher]

I lived in Lisbon from 2017 to 2023 almost continously and before the arrival of the remote workers it was cheap,landlords would have "human" prices and groceries were very cheap(i spent max 150 a month going in luxury shops once a week). After 2021 landlords and prices were adjusted for the rich digital nomads,that you forget that paid little to no taxes, making it very difficult to live for local worker( avarage salary is 900) and the higher salaries are super rare as Portugal is known for cheap labour. While being there i saw a lot of xenophobia towards digital nomads e i myself had to leave as i could not find a human price with a good salary of 1100. Lisbon is starting to look like San Francisco with all the homeless and the violence

[@rcbrascan]

The young and educated Portuguese moved mainly to France and Germany so what is left are the uneducated, low skill and poor which contributed to racism and xenophobia, mainly towards migrants from Portugal's former colonies.

[@leeroy4958]

Thank you for ruining another beautiful place american

[@BotDetector-44]

Don't blame others for your fucked up government

[@jianhuang3434]

@@leeroy4958 You're welcome.

[@baha3alshamari152]

San Francisco has drug issues while Lisbon doesn't

[@danbernardes1726]

I'll never understand why housing prices are so underwhelmingly high. The population of my city is static for more than two decades (around 20k people) and still the city grew a lot, with lots of new neighborhoods all around the city and more houses than ever. Most empty plots in the city center are now new commercial buildings and the built area of the city has almost doubled in these 20 years. But the population is the same! It seems like most houses now have one or two people living there instead of whole families like it was before, maybe?

[@webistk3949]

Things blow-off just before collapse. Thermo dynamics.

[@BenelliMr]

offer and demand

[@EnclaveEmily]

I'll tell you why: Offer and Demand. Rich(er) people go to poorer places. They can afford things that the population struggles to, so prices go up. When those prices go up, those richer people can still afford it, whereas the local population now can't. Repeat this over and over. Its made worse when the state hands out houses to people from the 3rd world that come here on dubious documentation (common). This limits the supply, but also increases demand as it establishes that this is something that can be done.

[@jhnfjhh7037]

The total supply of money in your country is rapidly increasing the central bank prints money every day non stop .

[@BenelliMr]

@@jhnfjhh7037 casa de papel

[@paulocorreia7942]

08:23 Currently, there are dozens of Russian ships in the Atlantic spying and detecting where these underwater cables are. Almost every week the Portuguese Air Force and Navy gives new images of Russian Boats to Portuguese media.

[@nigelsmith3719]

If America can cut the North Stream gas pipeline from Russia, the Russians figure they can do the same to the commnuication under sea cables from America.

[@Frpar123]

Get yourself a good shrink. And don't forget to take the pills.

[@Freedom_Half_Off]

These type cables are shadowed worldwide by both sides . They are targets just like natural gas pipelines . No population is safe from those type of disruptions ... ask the Germans 😏

[@Strimblaster]

Thanks. Been asking for a Portugal video for a long time 😂

[@meglukes]

Italy and Greece should be having these digital nomad visas that stipulate they can only live in the regions that are depopulating

[@alecfranklin3827]

Tbf are there regions that are depopulating that are actually desirable to live in? People want to move to beautiful places where there is a vibrant local culture and not run down abandoned towns.

[@quillo2747]

Why are the regions depopulation? What do you gain by foreigners buying up housing that will further price out and displace the locals? Why would you want to replace entire communities with foreigners instead of helping the locals rebuild and encouraging their kids to stay.

[@leogaufo9990]

​@@alecfranklin3827 I think the problem is at this rate, there won't be a 'vibrant local culture' left. Despite the possibility of it being unintentional, it invariably happens this way.

[@ondine217]

The regions that are depopulated usually lack basic necessities such as good Internet, nearby shops, accessible hospitals, frequent mail delivery, sometimes even water. No digital nomad wants to live in such a place, no matter how pretty or cheap it is.

[@curtisroberts9137]

It may not seem believable but this is actually a huge problem in the USA as well. People in large cities in CA or Northeastern US like NY sell homes for millions of dollars and move to other states driving up home prices and COL. Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana are all victims of Californication. Not just the COL but massive shifts in political alignments as well. Even within CA there are a lot of areas that just 20 years ago were as affordable as anywhere else in the US but because of migration from the large cities are now so expensive the local population has to watch all their youth move away or be stuck renting outrageously priced apartments with no hope of ever owning a home. The jobs in these areas just dont offer the income to keep up. Of course some places like Denver or Colorado Springs have large tech sectors but that just causes more economic pain for anyone without a high end tech job. I get it, it's the way things work and I myself hope to migrate toanother counrty at some point even if only for a few years, but it is an issue that is painful for local populations and creates a lot of problems and sometimes animosity.

[@steveburke7675]

...the Californication of Washington State has gone on for so long that ppl now sell their million dollar homes in WA and move elsewhere. Everyone on the move.

[@CantoniaCustoms]

They also ruin local politics as well. Maybe China and Russia cooked with internal passports lol

[@quintessenceSL]

It has echos of what happened to manufacturing and raw material sectors previously- lack of reinvestment and diversification. When the trends change, these places will end up burnt out husks as the new money tends to be focused in only a few areas (with infrastructure that is one-dimensional).

[@hemlock40]

What you say is true. The main cause across the US and in Portugal is not enough housing. The reasons for not enough housing are many from policy makers to zoning laws to rent control laws, to residents blocking any new construction that might lower the value of their home. Houses used to cost less than a pair of cars in the US. Now they are an asset instead of a commodity.

[@TheOneTrueFett]

​@@hemlock40 in the USA we get millions of illegal immigrants yearly, or more, that is a MAJOR driver of the increased housing costs and stagnate wages. There will always be someone else willing to work for less, and there will always be someone else willing to pay more in rent.

[@helderfonseca3856]

the old classy lisbon is gone

[@MookMineola]

When I visited Lisbon in 1977 and then again in 1980 it was a delightful place. Absolutely charming with very friendly people . I really hope it hasn’t changed much .

[@nigelsmith3719]

@@MookMineola Might as well have been a hundred years ago.. I was last there in 2011, and I can't believe what is happening there. Soon the Baixa (downtown) will be blocked off, and you will have to pay to enter. All those classic post 1755 earthquake buildings are all being coverted to hotels. The ground floors are reserved for chain retail businesses catering to tourists, and all mom and pop businesses that gave Lisboa it's unique character, have all been driven out. Property owners in Lisboa have cleaned up, everyone else has suffered.

[@gargoyle7863]

@@nigelsmith3719 I wanted to visit Portugal next year. Never was there. If old Lisbon is gone, any recommendations wich (maybe smaller) cities to visit instead?

[@Astronalta-ot6ho]

@@gargoyle7863 we are being replaced everywhere in the country..

[@nigelsmith3719]

@@gargoyle7863 Old Lisbon is not gone, just harder to find among the hundreds of thousands of tourists. Avoid the hot summer months. The airport has gone way over capacity, it's a mess. Portugal is one beautiful place, so there are dozens of smaller cities and towns worth a visit, from North to South. I recommend channels here are on KZbin like, POV-Tours Portugal, Zen Walks, Pro Walk Tours. Walkabouts just about everywhere shot in pristine 4k. It will be like you were there.

[@aliceblue5634]

We have the same problem in Northern Spain as neighbours of Portugal, with exaggerated quantities of "digital nomads" or skilled migrants. It is just unbearable. Prices as expensive as the USA for a house and salaries as Bulgaria or Romania. I think they are actually creating some kind of new slavery with this. It is very rare to earn more than 1000€/month in Northern Spain or Portugal. The prices are TRIPLE than a couple of years ago, the same salary for locals. If you stay, it's to work for misery for the rich people that come with better salaries, now they only hire locals as waiters. The super cool industry is mostly for native English speakers... I don't see tons of opportunities for Portuguese people. Renting an apartment for 1000€ or buying a house for 300.000€ (new average) is just impossible for locals, maybe a doctor or something like that but still, far from the reality. Normal people earn about 1000€ as I said, with luck. Also in several cases it is needed to earn triple the monthly payment of your rent or mortgage. Literally, that put thousands of people in the street. Just very unfair. If you ask me, they are creating ghettos where Portuguese people are becoming cheap service for (mostly white) rich people. Unbelievable.

[@christobar]

Housing has almost doubled nearly everywhere in the western world since 2019 - the difference is that in Portugal and Spain wages have not gone up to compensate. Someone in those economies is making a lot of money, but it isn't the working person.

[@ajuzumaki73]

The way housing has become privatized by banks into stocks, the disparity of cost-of-housing rent is never going to lower.

[@krzysztofkowalski2816]

I will just never pay rent

[@user-en9ku1le6i]

Not the problem, lack of new supply is the real problem. Trying to solve the housing problem without building more homes is like solving "hunger" without producing more food.

[@user-en9ku1le6i]

If supply increases, prices will go down. This is not rocket science. Quite the contrary, it's the first lesson in every Economic 101 book.

[@hak9656]

@@user-en9ku1le6i Portugal has plenty homes, your country might have a lack of housing and need building but that's not the issue

[@seleniaactimel]

@@hak9656 plus, you can't really build more houses in the areas that have seen critical price growth (lisbon centre for example)

[@alexgiles1561]

This video is not up to date. The tax provisions for digital nomads are coming to an end and so the trajectory could be quite different in a few years. For nomads coming now and in the future, they would be facing the prospect of getting taxed pretty heavily.

[@Mia-bz]

Far too many people go around thinking digital nomds live magical lives moving abroad whenever they want to wherever they want. The reality couldn't be further from that. Only a tiny fraction of remote workers will ever reach that level and a wage that will afford them that kind of life and benefits. Most people will never ever achieve that, just like most traders (in most places, it's less than 2-3%), don't live off the stock market, let alone getting rich off it

[@ryansreaction]

I’ve been remote since 2007. I can move to any state within the US, and have done so multiple times. I am not allowed to move out of the US, or I leave my career behind.

[@MrxBako]

The less the better, you come and destroy locals economy with your wealth and zero consequences

[@ryansreaction]

@@MrxBako - without us, the locals die off without any economic activity 😂

[@MrxBako]

@@ryansreaction which came first locals economies or digital assholes?

[@ryansreaction]

@@MrxBako - what does being first have to do with anything? terrible logic, explains why you’re so mad.

[@xdragonhaterx4579]

Can't wait for you to do a video on Slovenia. Though I don't have high hope considering we are such a small country and don't have much happening economically.

[@dariotsg]

I'm living on Madeira Island, a small island that did promote the golden visa, so luxury houses increased demand and all the market, also the digital nomads. Comparing before covid you could rent an apartment on a good place for half of a minimum wage, so one of the things was a couple could afford to have their own place to live. Right now, with one minimum wage is hard to find one bedroom apartment.

[@lol007]

Well it is the landlords who randomly decided to charge prices above what their apartments actually cost to make extra profit from workers/tourists. Just because you have new workers does not mean you have to increase the price, so ask them whats up

[@debil_dd]

When there are more people, there is higher demand, therefore price has to increase. Otherwise the good would have to be distributed by morally strange standards. How can someone not understand basic economics is baffling.

[@gilson_jr_]

You clearly have no clue of basic economic principles, such as the law of supply and demand...

[@goncalodias6402]

​​@@gilson_jr_the market is not moved by natural forces. Its people that lower and rise the prices. Lests remind ourselves that economics is not a science, and the original name of the discipline is political economy

[@dcumbo]

@@debil_dd there is also outright greed. The same is happening in Malta

[@debil_dd]

@@dcumbo Malta już has a lot of people coming in because it's very attractive to stay in due to the sea, weather, language, prices. But it's very densly built and there is a limited number of available places still. Landlords wouldn't be greedy if there was more apartments and housing available in the first place, because supply brings prices down.

[@vp9262]

The actual problem is unskilled immigrants who arrive as tourists and then stay illegally. In the case of Lisbon, it is true that digital nomads are driving up prices.

[@BusanDalint]

But if they stay illegally then the police has to find them and deport them, no?

[@sergiocanelas1908]

No it isn't.

[@brunosousa9264]

@@BusanDalint Not really, in Portugal, even if you are illegal, you can became legal by having a working contract. (now imagine a bad actor that would sell those contracts..)

[@antoniocampos1151]

@@BusanDalint previous government ended our agency that controled borders and migration process to create a new one that was massively underfunded and inneficient. Combined with the "open boarder" policies promoted by the extreme-left and socialists, we have now reached this breaking point were digital nomads are no longer coming as before and only low skilled migrants stay.

[@dinokknd]

You will have to provide a source for this, otherwise it's just not a valid statement.

[@johnalden948]

I like Quick-Talk. Saves time and actually helps understanding.

[@grassblizzard]

Is there a way to view all the countries in the economics explained national leaderboard through an interactive website of some kind? That would be pretty cool

[@realhawaii5o]

As a Portuguese, I'm really happy I moved to Estonia. Which in and of itself is a country with a lot of inflation. But at least it's still possible to afford things. It's frustrating when the whole country is getting full of rich immigrants that drive up rents and property prices while not paying any taxes.

[@hemlock40]

As an immigrant in Portugal, I pay a lot of taxes. A lot. And in a few more years I will be paying even more taxes when my cap expires. So how exactly do immigrants get away with not paying any taxes?

[@alexsm3882]

​@@hemlock40your cap?

[@joaoramos8407]

@@hemlock40 most of immigrants receive benefits. Just because you dont receive doesnt mean others dont

[@hemlock40]

@@alexsm3882 I think the temporary cap is 10 pct on income. But I don't have an income. I pay very large sums of iva.

[@hemlock40]

@@joaoramos8407 Do those benefits get offset by the economic activity, workers provided? I don't know. Portugal has a huge shortage of tradesmen, medical workers, skilled software workers, and hospitality. Wages are simply not keeping up with the costs of housing because there's not enough. I'm trying to understand what factors are to blame for that and just blaming immigrants is the easiest.

[@kevincronk7981]

since you've been doing the global leaderboard for a while, maybe you should put the year that you ranked the county/state/whatever else, so that people can see what time that ranking is referring to

[@TheGreatness-gg1jx]

Raise taxes on migrants, lower them for locals and tax short term rentals. That should cool off things but the government has to reverse the open door policy.

[@mamsf3]

Treating your own better than the outsiders is racist. Tv and the politicians said so.

[@hey_kudisco_podcast]

Same issue in Cape Town South Africa. Digital nomads have made that city incredibly expensive for the locals there.

[@pedrolopes3542]

The digital nomads have almost no impact on the housing market outside of Central Lisbon. And Central Lisbon had been undesirable and unaffordable for Portuguese since the 1980's.that is why nearby cities grew so much in the 1990's, Barreiro, Loures, Almada saw a significative growth as lisboners moved there. The real problem in Portugal is the large number of Brazilians that move to Portugal, most of them with low skills, they insist on living on the "big cities", which puts a lot of pressure on the local housing market as well as employment market (real unemployment in much higher than the official statistics, because unregistered immigrants can't be counted as unemployed.) Fortunately the new government is going to change the migration law a bit, I don't think it will have much of an impact tho. however the overwhelming majority of the portuguese territory remains quite affordable, the issue is that most people just want to live in the "big cities" and Portugal only has a hand full of those "big cities": Lisbon metro area, Porto metro area. Coimbra, Algarve litoral. All the other cities and metro areas have less than 250 thousand people, thus considered too small for Brazilians and digital nomads, and even most Portuguese... As housing prices rise people will change their minds about "big cities".

[@Astronalta-ot6ho]

Estamos a sofrer uma completa substituição.

[@linchen5129]

​@@Astronalta-ot6hothe same thing is happening here in canada with indian immigrants

[@Astronalta-ot6ho]

@@linchen5129 I know. the west has fallen. Every white country is being flooded....

[@Astronalta-ot6ho]

@@linchen5129 Every majority white country is being flooded

[@Astronalta-ot6ho]

@@linchen5129 i know. The west is falling.. Its happening in all Western countries....

[@nathanwaterser8218]

This is happening here in Mexico too Particularly in Oaxaca, residents now report that there are restaurants IN MEXICO, that DON'T GIVE SERVICE TO MEXICANS Or that speak in English only

[@TheOneTrueFett]

Wow, i imagine the locals don't like that. Welcome to our world in America

[@nathanwaterser8218]

@@TheOneTrueFett are you trying to imply that Mexicans migrating to USA is the same thing? If so let me tell you that no For one these digital nomads don't pay us a single cent in tax because they don't work here in Mexico Second, when Mexicans migrate to USA they don't do it with a superiority complex and demand that everyone speak to them in Spanish (unlike what Americans do here where they demand that we as Mexicans speak English in our own country)

[@189Blake]

​@@TheOneTrueFett First, America is a continent from which Mexico is part of, so "welcome to America" doesn't make sense because he's already there. Secondly, both phenomena aren't comparable. Mexicans integrate, learn English, and inter-marry with other nationals in the US, to a degree that many from the second generation don't even speak Spanish anymore! Mexicans work their way up from the bottom. All your buildings and all your produce are from Mexican hands. People from the US on the other hand come with an entitled behavior (like yours), displacing locals, and hanging around only with other foreigners because they don't like Mexicans. The only thing they like is to pretend to be rich in poor regions, because they know back home they are one paycheck away from being homeless.

[@TheOneTrueFett]

@nathanwaterser8218 it's crazy you think only the immigrants to your country aren't paying taxes. The immigrants here may not DEMAND people speak their language, but by their sheer numbers it ends up becoming a non English speaking area. Not sure what point you're trying to make, it's the same result. Welcome to our world.

[@marsdriver2501]

@@TheOneTrueFett do immigrants in us drive up the prices?

[@michaeldee3380]

There's another important factor distorting the housing market which wasn't mentioned in this video, second home ownership. Thousands upon thousands of apartments sit empty during the winter months in the Algarve whilst locals are unable to afford a primary home. Noticed this in Armação de Pera where I stayed in one of the high-rise apartment blocks in December. Virtually empty except for maybe one or two occupants.

[@anonym4867]

5:34 on the cost of living Index Prague is listed twice

[@kinhotas]

It's the local news bro, we don't take anything seriously hahahaha

[@dkaloger5720]

You should do a video on Greece’s 6 day workweek

[@ondine217]

He really shouldn't. Based on his track record he'll love it.

[@TRazielT]

As a Portuguese living in Portugal, I think attracting high skilled, high paid foreigners is extremely good for the country, especially since most of these people are pure "profit" for the state. The problem with the cost of living, especially housing, is, in my opinion, more linked to bad policies from the government, applied to the local companies and population, in part still as a result of the 2007 financial crisis. Then there is the fact that no government since that time has thought that attracting new immigrants and tourists would increase demand in housing. There was basically no new construction for 15 years because the policies were completely wrong. There is a lot now, but far too late. Last, but definitely not least, Portugal has been, unfortunately, a country plagued by corruption and bad money spending.

[@bixinho199]

We are primarily losing skilled professionals because our graduates are moving to higher-income countries

[@jimbobbby]

I think this is a problem that must countries are now facing. Rapid urbanisation, over reliance on the market to provide investment in housing, treating housing as an investment, poor planning and policy. Everywhere now seems to have a housing crisis. It's very concerning to be honest. Blaming immigration seems to be scapegoating in order to avoid pressure on governments to do anything about it.

[@user-en9ku1le6i]

There is room for digital nomads and unskilled immigrants, as long as supply increases

[@quillo2747]

When you invite so many immigrants in to do jobs and displace your existing population Portugal ceases to be populated by the Portuguese

[@MishaSalnikov]

Cool video! Spain has something pretty similar going on currently, could you do a video about it as well?

[@RupertMcGruber]

Please also mention the effects of what seems like a recent and huge influx of Bangladeshi and other immigrants to Portugal.

[@Ahmedhelmy-fu4oq]

Hello, I want to start investing but I don't know where to begin. Any advice or contacts for help?

[@Squaretable22]

I was lucky to be in Lisbon 10 years ago as a tourist. I went there earlier this year (staying in a hotel, not Airbnb) and was surprised at how DIRTY it was. You can just see how the vitality of the city has gone downhill and it's so sad.

[@kinhotas]

Yeah I avoid Lisbon, full of demons and lower vibe entities. (Also lots of light 🕯️)

[@JoelReid]

You should probably mention that Portugal is investing a lot in surveying the seafloor around the islands they have claim to in the Atlantic. Their goal is that by mapping these and getting them accepted then their economic zone increases to a huge level (huge being an understatement), allowing them to take advantage of sea floor resources. This is a long term goal of the Portuguese government as a sort of safety net in 20-30 years.

[@joeybetschart66]

The graph at 3:03 does not make any sense, there are 15 countries listet in Europe, but 16 graphs

Except there are 16 countries, but Norway and Poland are listed on the same line... Also, here's the original report, which shows slightly different values: wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/GSWA-2023.pdf

[@niyanlan8928]

Let’s try this in the UK-I’m sure there are many Europeans that would love to come to great Yarmouth or Skegness?

[@tsubadaikhan6332]

It's the sunny beaches that you offer...

[@user-vd8uk8pw9b]

Those sound like cities in The Dark Crystal.

[@dediii]

To me it's Swansea or nothing

[@rangerwickett]

I'm skeptical that a few thousand immigrant workers with high incomes have skewed the housing market that much. I would assume it's more related to easy money during the early covid times. For investments, and people with a lot of disposable income buying real estate because they weren't spending it on travel and entertainment.

[@JackAlderton]

Really interesting, I was just researching Portugal! Changed my mind a bit seeing a different perspective, and the comments with further insights.

[@frankstrawnation]

If you want to live in Portugal, try the sunny Algarve region.

[@julianfranco7689]

I think that in the case of Portugal, not talking about retirees is a big miss as it can be having a larger impact than digital nomads as they buy real estate to live and move with a TON of money. Retiring in Portugal was the latest and greatest until last year I believe, but by then the damage was done.

[@BirdEgg123]

6:53 "in this sample of nations" How is that representative of global or regional trends? Better data could've been used.

[@pedrolopes3542]

9:45 the gdp data is very outdated, in 2023 Portugal gdp was 287 billion, not 255 billion...

[@kyo778]

I commented on this too. The leaderboard bit was totally lazy. All wrong

[@nothingham4742]

😂

[@nocivolive]

ya, it missed a lot fo the inflaction impact.

[@DreamCatcher201]

My high school friends and I all have left the town where we grew up. It's impossible to buy or rent there now.

[@DiogoF.]

Portugal has a serious issue of general negligence and disorganization.

[@frankstrawnation]

How interesting, Brazil has the same problem too. It seems that this peculiar characteristic runs in our DNA.

[@thelastemperor3704]

Couldn't agree more. Trying to get even basic tasks done is insanely long winded and complicated. The levels of beuracracy are a massive drag on the economy. The Portuguese don't seem to realise how slow their system is and foreigners look at the way their government works (particularly local government) and shake their heads in disbelief. I love the country and the people are fantastic but their structures need serious reform and quickly.

[@richy6455]

Well said...

[@jorgevieira4489]

I’m Portuguese and I agree

[@TheOnlyKingBee]

​@@frankstrawnationBrasil is just Portugal but everything is 2x what we have here 😅

[@skyfall7110]

Portugal as a country is dead. Its only good if you are a digital nomad from the US or Germany or something of the sort. Or, if you are someone of retiring age wanting to spend the last years in an awesome climate. Portuguese have no chance at making it in portugal anymore. Im finishing my PhD and then 95% chance that I will look to leave. For every digital nomad the Govenrment attracts they loose 10 Portuguese youngsters. The last 20 years of government have been an utter failure without exception.

[@allbrandsstorecompareprice8374]

@skyfall7110 We must leave the European Union and regain control of our borders. Leave the Euro and the CEDH too.

[@damianfitzpatrick3465]

Purchacing power parity is fascinating, do more maps with it! Or add it next to your gdp analysis on the leader board!

[@overredrover9430]

One of the best things about this channel is consistency of content. The information relative to the topic has changed but the presentation has been minor if it has (I haven't rewatched any videos but my recollection of the first is similar to this one). This is valuable in that the relevance of the rankings is maintained, even in the 3+(?) years since the rankings/leaderboard was started. EE may have had some could've, should've moments since about data to base his rankings on (or maybe he already went through this while studying), but I'd like to think that this list is more valuable to go without it and be faithful to the original formula. Another reason not to include PPP is that it is a dataset that is compiled externally from this channel while the rest of the makeup of the overall ranking is EE's subjective opinion. I agree that PPP is an important dataset and would support adding it to an interactive table presenting the rankings, and constituent stats, if EE has a website and if this table is live.

[@kgt127]

There are a lot of factors that seem to be behind the fast rising of housing prices in Portugal, besides the fast digital nomads migration, such as: the quick downfall of the rate of house construction, the slow and ineffective judicial system in the area of housing/renting litigation, the centralization of population density in the Porto and Lisbon metropolitan areas, and others. For my portuguese mates or others interested in learning more i suggested the book Trancas À Porta- Desfazendo Mitos da Crise da Habitação. It's an easy and good read on the matter.

[@bugsyseigel7592]

I lsot everything when you said "Affordable cost of living"

[@tiagoquental1029]

Digital nomads aren't the problem, the problem is the short-term rental housing (Airbnb and etc...). We should do as Barcelona and end this madness by 2028.

[@mikatu]

No, the problem are the digital nomads plus all the indians.

[@albuck3347]

That is also a problem. But digital nomads drive up prices.

[@santostv.]

They are richer than us and poor migrants, despite their low numbers they are richer than the a average Portuguese or unskilled migrant.

[@Snp2024]

There were 10000 air bnb in Barcelona out of like 800k available homes it was drop on bucket . Truth is people need new housing u can ban all Airbnb, hotels, rentals but it won't fix much city probably need more houses nearer to jobs .

[@Homer-OJ-Simpson]

@@albuck3347but the digital nomads are a net positive so by doing what Barcelona does, it still allows digital nomads while containing housing price increase. The nomads are more likely to stay at hotels or in airbnbs where the host already lives

[@user-by9zy5dy7i]

Do not underestimate the local real estate agencys pricing when talking about an increase in house prices. I was here when you could buy a good real estate for appr. 5k in rural Portugal, just by asking at a local cafe and using a lawyer.

[@LusoSky-bm3sr]

In the past six years, Portugal has secured the landing of several international submarine cable systems: Ellalink and Olisipo, which connect Europe, via Portugal, to South America; 2Africa (landed in 2023) and Equiano (operational in 2025), which link Africa to Europe; Medusa, which connects Portugal to the Mediterranean and the East, near the Suez Canal; and Nuvem, which will connect Europe, via Portugal, to the USA, expected to be operational in 2026. Additionally, the Pisces initiative, a European Union project, is under discussion to connect Ireland to Portugal and Spain, complementing the international cables in the south with those in the north of Europe. These initiatives strengthen Portugal's position as a strategic telecommunications hub.

[@allbrandsstorecompareprice8374]

@LusoSky-bm3sr And? What's this got to do with the flood of unwanted Third World peoples with ugly faces and uncivilized behavior?

[@antonioldesma]

Makes no sense to have Portugal higher than Spain in the leaderboard

[@Gewehr_3]

Portugal is higher because it's doing more to create IT jobs. Either way, both countries suck.

[@davidg8628]

​​@@Gewehr_3it sucks for the locals, for rich foreigners its amazing!

[@antonioldesma]

@@Gewehr_3 Both Spain and Portugal rock, you don’t know what you’re saying 😂

[@andrew8939]

​@@antonioldesmawtf???

[@Ciscogrande]

It doesn't make any sense at all. Lower GDP per capita than Spain, much lower nominal GDP, smaller and less impactful industry... Yet almost one full point above Spain in average?

[@OzaiJr]

Housing considerations have drastically changed. I can't find a house for less then 800k where I'm from.

[@xonack]

I’m a remote worker and literally the only place on that remote work index worth setting up shop in is Portugal.

[@andrescgomezp]

The new wave of immigrants (now washed with the classist term digital nomad) are making living in your own city/country almost impossible. Examples: Mexico City, Belgrade, Medellin, Buenos Aires, and many more

[@Protect-Privacy]

@@andrescgomezp Digital nomads aren’t rebranded immigrants because digital nomads have no intention of immigrating to that country. Digital nomads and immigrants are distinct groups: immigrants typically relocate with the intention of settling long-term in a new country, while digital nomads move frequently for work or lifestyle reasons without the intention of permanent residency.

[@editfazekas3854]

Budapest...

[@MagicMike_101]

Nah. Only Latin cities are on this list. People wanna live in the right-level economies.

[@JamielDeAbrew]

They need a vacancy tax. Imagine if AirBnBs, hotels, motels and holiday homes were essentially forced to be occupied almost every day of the year. (Due to a prohibitively high vacancy tax). Low demand days would be rented at a loss. This would help restaurants and retail have a steadier customer base. Some investors wouldn’t want to rent at a loss on low demand days. They may convert places back to long term rentals or sell them to homebuyers. The avoidance of this tax would increase the efficient use of land, and properties on the land. Society would get more use from the labour and building material investment that created the properties. The aim would be for the government to get next to no revenue from this tax as investors would prefer to rent at a loss (on low demand days) or sell. Any revenue from the tax could be used to: * increase housing supply * improve internet, roads and public transport to homes and businesses * fund the improvement of home energy efficiency

[@tobiascornille]

Or an unimproved land value tax :)

[@JamielDeAbrew]

@@tobiascornille both are different. Both are needed

[@raylopez99]

When I was a digital nomad I found moving outside the USA cost me two-thirds of my business. Even though in California my clients were "online', and I hardly ever saw them, the "option" of being able to meet me in person cost me business when I relocated to south Europe. This was in the late 00's. It might be different now. BTW I thought about moving to Australia but being 15 hours ahead of California made it too remote. Australia (Sydney) reminded me of California however.

[@raylopez99]

South Europe was a bit closer than Sydney for the US east coast but both areas were too far away. Clients are largely traditional and don't like remote services. For goods it's different, you can ship things and nobody cares. Sad but true as I think geo-arbitrage is the future.

[@twalke407]

Big Mac coke n fries $17 bucks in Ontario Canada, and you don't see the beef unless you open the burger.

[@TheChannelofOrange]

Guys, this an example of you need to go deeper. There has been no economic benefit for the majority of Portuguese with these programs

[@tiagoesperto993]

For the Portuguese?😂😂 I’m trying to get out of my parents house and it’s completely impossible, don’t come to Portugal please

[@Guitarforpets]

Very interesting analysis. Could you speak a little slower. I am anglophone but the lightening-speed at which you talk means I miss some of what you’re saying. 😊

[@carlito6038]

skill issue

[@iambicpentakill971]

You might enjoy it more if you change the speed to 75%

[@JamesJohnson-kl1eu]

I think the bigger change is the fact that you can live outside of big cities like new york, live in another city in new york. This example is the extreme and smallest portion. Also, 14k people with money willing to spend it, isn't the issue. The issue is, the local businesses raise the prices of everything because greed of the local businesses. They don't have to raise their prices, they just do because they know these 14k people will pay more. They could easily keep their prices low, 14k people out of 504k people aren't going to impact demand that much. Sounds like the cronies raising the prices pointing at others. Also, if it gets so expensive, these people will leave because what's the benefits of living there?

[@mattmckeon1688]

I would tbink the golden visa programme that allowed foreigners to buy their way to citizenship by purchasing real estate would have had a much greater impact than the digital nomads. The affordability issues seem to have started before Covid, based on the data.

[@extrememike]

Slow down and get your facts right.

[@benclair]

You’ve totally missed the mark, as most observers do. The majority of real estate in Portugal is empty, due to inefficient regulation and golden visa legacy (which has nothing to do with remote workers). That’s lead to the ongoing rental market disaster. Wealthy Portuguese owners have reaped the rewards at the expense of the less fortunate, and are now gaslighting.