In the first quarter of 2025, the median rent for the 23,417 new rental contracts in Portugal reached €8.22 per square meter, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced on Friday.
“This figure represents a year-on-year growth of 10.0%, higher than the previous quarter’s 9.3%. When compared to the first quarter of 2024, the number of new rental contracts decreased by 10.4%,” the INE statement noted.
The data also indicates that compared to the same quarter in 2024, the median rent only decreased in the NUTS III sub-region of Alentejo Central (-0.4%).
“The highest rents were recorded in Greater Lisbon (€13.16/m2), the Autonomous Region of Madeira (€10.44/m2), Setúbal Peninsula (€10.24/m2), Algarve (€9.92/m2), and Porto Metropolitan Area (€9.12/m2),” explained the INE.
Additionally, in the first quarter of 2025, “a year-on-year increase in the median rent was observed in 23 of the 24 municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, with Gondomar (24.4%) showing the largest year-on-year variation and Lisbon having the highest median rent (€16.00/m2), although with a year-on-year variation rate (5.1%) below the national average (10.0%).”
“Braga (-0.9%) was the only municipality to show a decrease in rent value compared to the same quarter last year. Sixteen of the 24 municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants reported year-on-year rates of change in the number of new contracts higher than the national rate (-10.4%), with Barcelos (4.2%) and Setúbal (3.0%) leading with the highest variations,” the INE report stated.
Furthermore, “in the first quarter of 2025, all municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Greater Lisbon and the Setúbal Peninsula recorded median rents above the national average (€8.22/m2) but with different year-on-year variation rates.”
“From this set, municipalities with higher new rental contract values and year-on-year rent increases below the national average (10.0%) highlighted Lisbon (€16.00/m2 and 5.1%), Cascais (€14.72/m2 and 1.1%), Oeiras (€13.89/m2 and 4.2%), Amadora (€12.20/m2 and 9.7%), Almada (€11.98/m2 and 5.0%), Vila Franca de Xira (€9.90/m2 and 5.7%), and Setúbal (€9.33/m2 and 4.6%),” concluded the INE.
Notably, “in the Porto Metropolitan Area, the municipalities of Porto (€12.94/m2 and 8.5%) and Matosinhos (€10.79/m2 and 6.2%) registered median rents above the national reference and lower year-on-year variations. In this sub-region, only the municipalities of Vila Nova de Gaia (€9.91/m2 and 15.2%) and Maia (€8.83/m2 and 18.0%) simultaneously recorded rents and year-on-year rates above the national average.”
“Among the other municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, only Funchal (€11.34/m2 and 17.1%) and Coimbra (€8.67/m2 and 10.9%) presented a median rent value and a year-on-year growth rate higher than the national references. Braga (€7.45/m2 and -0.9%) was the only municipality to register a decline in the median rent value compared to the same quarter last year,” the published note revealed.
