Well it is in a 3rd world country and not many British people earn a salary to meet the costs in Brazil.It is simple math. I am talking about singles and couple that cannot survive here financially .There arent any jobs for them unless they want to clean tables for 460 reais per month.

I live in Pernambuco - the 3rd most popular NE state with tourists after Bahia and Ceara, well ahead of RN - and do not pay anything like these prices. For example -

I drive a 1600cc 16V car which is flex, so I can use petrol or alcool. Alcool is between 1.35 & 1.55 per litre. I buy all my fruit, salad and veg from a local market, and can get between 1 and 4 pineapples for R$1 depending on size. (Apparently it does matter with pineapples!)

I live in a large 400+ sq m detached house on the beach on a double lot. It is a work in progress, but my electric is R$250-350 per month, my IPTU totalled R$420 this year but I got a 20% discount off that by paying before 31st Jan.

Supermarket milk is R$1.49 (city, about 1 hour away) or R$1.89 from local shop. A whole fillet mignon from a city supermarket costs R$24-30, trimmed and that is the most expensive, but cuts into 6+ steaks. Good sized fresh whole prawns are delivered to my door for R$10-12 per kilo.

However anything that has been imported is very expensive due to the heavy taxes importation brings. If I am sent a parcel by airmail, it is opened by customs who then charge me 60% of whatever value they place on it plus 60% of the postage or shipping costs! If I do not pay it is destroyed.

Our medical insurance is acually R$200-250 per month per person, as we have been here less than 1 year, and we have the top cover. I do have a caretaker who I pay R$460 per month (x13).

I agree with Michael about wine (unfortunately). Brazil makes quite good sparkling wines, but only reasonable sweet and rubbish dry wines. The only reasonably priced semi-dry red wine I would recommend is Saint Germain Merlot at between R$7.50 and R$9.50 per bottle.

Pernumbuco is way cheaper and beautiful aswell,but Natal prices are ridiculous.It is a great pity that it is difficult to get to.Considering Brazil produces fruit and veg it is way over priced.It is true that they pay high taxes to get it to the supermarkets,from the south to ere in some cases,but I still feel it is unjust.Twinings teabags cost 17,00 reais for 20!We have local markets too where you can buy produce much cheaper,but sometimes the quality it not too good.Buy 4 pinapples for 1 real,etc,etc.When iptu is charged it goes along location prices.At a beach you can pay practically nothing,or a fortune the same for the city,so day in day out and year in year out unless you have a good income the chances of surviving are slim.

I recently returned from Switzerland for a holiday (which has one of the highest paid salaries in the world)Brazil is one of the lowest!!Minimum salary 450 reais (in most jobs)unless you are a lawyer or doctor,doctors get paid as little as 13 reais per hr + Natal!Corretors have no salary,just a small commission.Teachers are paid 600 reais a mth ,language teachers 12 reais an hr , university lecturers 3 times that.Coffee was cheaper,supermarkets cheaper,air fares cheaper,wine cheaper,pizzas cheaper,hotels cheaper,so I cannot agree that it is cheap to live here.I have lived here for years!When you compare salaries the gap is enormous.

Dotty,

You agreed that for 10k R$ per month, 2 adults + 2 kids could lead a pretty good life in Brazil. The same in Switzerland (i.e. maid & gardener, etc. etc.) cannot be had for 10k R$ per month. That is 3.7k €, you might be able to have the same in switzerland for 20k € per month, but not much less.

I totally agree that there is a huge salary difference, but this is a discussion about cost of living not salary rates in different countries.

Where in switzerland did you go btw?

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Zurich and Engerlberg.

It goes hand in hand,you have a great salary in Switzerland and the cost of living is high,you have a low salary in Brazil and the cost of living is high.As you can see there is a huge inbalance.

As an investor north of Natal... have no plans to invest there again. Maybe in Recife.... JP also has too much gringo activity which equals scams, overcharging, gringo tax, etc... Brazil shot themselVes in the foot. To many options out there -- Mexico, Peru, Chile, Colombia, the DR and even Belize... I feel sorry for gringos buying in Natal, unless you find hard up sellers, it's almost impossible to find a great deal there now. I still like SC, Rio, SP....

Thats a real pity.Did you buy through a Brazilian agent?As for deals there are none,you are right.It really is a big scam here right now.

Sorry Dotty but if you think Brazil has a high cost of living then you seriously need to try living in Europe. You could no where near have the same level of what you get in Brazil for the same price here. I agree salaries there are a lot lower but this is about cost of living not salaries.

Also can I ask why it is such a scam out there at the moment? There are not many places in the world you can buy 2 bed apartments 2 mins from the beach for £45k!!