What is the cost of living in Chile? What is the exchange rate?

The Chilean currency, the Chilean Peso (CLP), is relatively stable. The EUR is trading around 950 pesos and the USD around 800. The figures to handle are therefore high, and prices are expressed in thousands for small purchases, 1500 pesos for a coffee for example, in hundreds of thousands for larger purchases. It's a blow to be taken!

Chile is a relatively expensive country for the South American continent. The cost of living there is sometimes barely lower than in Europe. Some regions in particular have higher than average prices, due to their isolation, which goes hand in hand with a large influx of tourists: The Atacama Desert, Easter Island and Patagonia will make you think twice before drinking a coffee (1.50 euros), a good local beer (4.50 euros) or booking a table in a restaurant (25 euros). And almost everywhere hotel prices seem excessive.

Chile is unevenly developed and the cost of living creates great disparities in a country where the average wage is around 900 euros per month and the minimum wage around 320 euros per month. Many services and activities are thus exclusively reserved for the upper classes and foreign tourists.

Exchange offices abound in cities and tourist sites and you will have no difficulty in changing your euros or dollars. However, be sure to compare exchange rates between the different casa de cambio. As everywhere, avoid exchanging money at airports where the rate is generally not very advantageous. Beware of counterfeit notes and especially of damaged, torn and glued notes which are not always accepted in shops.