Prices in Uruguay

When we were preparing to move to Uruguay, the hardest thing was working out a simple question: what does ordinary life cost here. Everything I found online was either five years out of date or about Punta del Este, where prices are several times higher. So I started this page and put in what I see myself — on the receipt and on the bill.

All prices are in pesos, the way they are printed on the label. The buttons above the table switch to dollars, hryvnia, roubles or euros at the current rate. The Change column shows how much an item has risen or fallen since my first entry; hover the percentage to see the previous price and the date.

What these numbers do and do not mean

• This is Piriápolis. A small town on the coast. Montevideo and especially Punta del Este are more expensive; inland can be cheaper.
• The utility bills are ours, not an average. We live in an unfinished concrete house heated with a wood stove. Our electricity bill is nothing like a flat with air conditioning, and it swings a lot with the season.
• Groceries come from an ordinary shop and the market. We buy meat at Deposita, look for discounts at Eldorado and get vegetables at the Saturday market. The same items cost differently in the tourist areas.
• A dash means I have not entered it yet. Not "free" and not "unavailable".

If you need a budget estimate rather than a price tag, there is a calculator: /en/kalkulyatory/prozhivanie/. And I once spent a week testing the strictly economical version of this, where food came to $23.38 — /en/zhizn-v-urugvae/proizhit-na-100-dollarov-v-urugvae/.

This is our experience, not advice and not official statistics. If a number looks odd, ask below and I will answer as it is. To write to me directly: @renat_uruguay.