Cost of Living 6 months in a Panama Rain Forest!

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Panama is a popular choice among Canadian and U.S. expats looking for a tropical place to retire.

Here are some of the reasons why:
Lower cost of living than both Canada and the U.STemperate climateGood healthcareA straightforward Visa programEasy access to amenities and luxuries available in both Canada and the U.S. (for the most part)Financially rewarding programs for pensionersThe currency is U.S.D.



We spent 6 months living in Panama. Canadians and Americans receive a 180 day tourist visa upon arrival but if you are going to drive, the tourist visa only gives the right to drive for 90 days. So you still will have to renew your tourist visa every 90 days, this is easily done by crossing the border to Costa Rica for the day and returning to Panama

We were house sitting in a mountain rain forest and there were no amenities within walking distance for us so we had to drive 10 minutes to a convenience store offering just the necessities. The only restaurant in the community was open limited hours. We did frequented another locally owned establishment although it was a 30 minute drive from the community, one or two times weekly. We would shop for groceries, gas and most other things in area of Panama called 24 de Diciembre.

Grocery and necessity costs– We spent $300 USD a week for just about everything (groceries, medications, gas and miscellaneous items we needed) living in Los Altos de Cerro Azul. We shopped for food at two stores, Rey, and Machetazo, both were very much like grocery stores back home. This is how some of our costs broke down:

Costs of basic food items in USD:


• Milk (1 litre) – $1.35
• Cheese (500 Grams) – $ 3.35
• Bread (fresh baked 500 Grams) – $1.92
• Eggs (12) – $2.00
• Chicken breasts (boneless skinless), (1KG) – $7.12
• Domestic beer (0.5 Litre bottle) – $0.67
• Bottle of mid to upper range wine- $6.00
• Medications- $15.00
• Gas for the truck – $20-$30 weekly



Locally grown fruit like oranges and pineapples were almost 50% cheaper than back home in Canada. Alternatively, some imported produce (apples) were almost 50% more than in Canada.

On average, our grocery bills in Panama were 38% less than our grocery bills in Canada.

The bottom line on living costs Panama

We spent $8464 USD total ($1411 a month) living six months in Panama (excluding flights). Our average cost per day was $46 for a family of three! Panama was very cheap for us because we had free accommodation with our house sitting assignment.

If we could have signed a long-term lease (a year) in Los Altos de Cerro Azul, we would have paid around $800 USD a month to rent a 2 bedroom house. Paying rent would have bumped our average cost per day to $74 USD, still very reasonable for a family of three.

Living like a local in Los Alto de Cerro Azul we were able to experience all of the best parts of living in the community; the stunning views, the huge variety of wildlife, the serenity of living in such a protected area. We also got to see the drawbacks to living in a rain forest community; rampant mold, scorpions, snakes, wild weather and terrible road conditions. Ultimately, learning the drawbacks we decided that part of Panama was not where we wanted to establish a long-term base.

Please visit our website if you want to read more about the cost of living in Panama.

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