Living in Montenegro: Ultimate Guide (2023)

Interested in what it would be like living in Montenegro, maybe even year-round? Maybe you have already visited as a tourist for a few days or are a frequenter? It is one thing to be in a country for a short time only and another if you become a resident.

In this guide, I will thoroughly describe life abroad in Montenegro. I will honestly list all Up- and downsides of spending months in Montenegro, helping you decide if this Mediterranean country ticks all your boxes.

Is Montenegro a good place to live?

Montenegro is a young country on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, bordering Croatia to the north and Albania to the south. Living expenses are among the lowest compared to other European countries. Expats living in Montenegro can enjoy a low capital gains tax and low personal income tax rate starting at 9% amidst an affordable cost of living.

Montenegro is a good place to live if you start your own business, receive income from abroad, or generally have enough funds to sustain yourself. The tax rates in Montenegro are low, the climate and lifestyle are Mediterranean, and the landscape is stunning.

Montenegro Cost of Living

Montenegro is ranked 85th on Numbeo’s cost of living index for the year 2023 with costs of living similar to Honduras and the country of Georgia. Price-wise, it is thereby one of the most affordable countries in Europe.

Real Estate Prices

Property prices in Montenegro are moderate in comparison to Western Europe. In Podgorica, Montenegro’s capital and one of the centers of the country’s ex-pat life, prices average 1,500 Euros per square meter. This is a very low cost for a capital city of a country that will soon join the European Union.

In the more popular coastal towns like the UNESCO World Heritage Site Kotor or up-and-coming Tivat with its glamorous Porto Montenegro, prices average 2,000 – 2,500 Euros per square meter. Currently, we can see a generally rising market triggered by the war in Ukraine and a shortage in productive capacity.

If the future resale value of Montenegro real estate will go up and down will likely depend on a few points such as if there will be a global financial crisis in the foreseeable future and when Montenegro will become an EU member state. Coastal tourist areas seem to be a great real estate investment bolstered by luxury resort complex developments such as Porto Montenegro, Porto Novi, and Lustica Bay.

Rent and Utilities

Your monthly costs while living in Montenegro will be heavily influenced by the cost of rent and utilities. Currently, the rental market in Montenegro is rather tight and some landlords are looking to take advantage of the influx of people from Ukraine and Russia to raise rents to astronomical levels.

But, in my opinion, this will stay a short abnormality and prices will revert to more reasonable levels soon. Another thing you should be aware of is that some rentals are only available from October 1st until June 1st or May 1st because some landlords want to earn more money with short-term rentals during tourist season.

January 2023 prices

You can find a one-bedroom apartment inside Tivat’s pristine Marina village for 1,500 – 2,000 Euros per month.

Two-bedroom apartments in Tivat start at around 600 Euros per month.

Studios can be rented for 350 Euros.

Monthly rents in other towns and cities in the coastal area are a little cheaper, you should be able to find a studio for 250 – 300 Euros and a two-bedroom apartment for 400 – 500 Euros. Rents in rural areas are even cheaper but there is no large supply of rental property.

Prices for utilities have not significantly increased because homes in Montenegro do not have central gas heating. Instead, the majority of houses and apartments are heated by electricity on the Montenegrin coast or by wood stoves in colder regions. Not all coastal homes have proper insulation.

Heating with electricity can become expensive during the winter months. But if you watch your consumption you should be able to spend 100 Euros or less in winter and 50 Euros or less in summer on electricity. Water comes in at about 20 – 30 Euros per month. Garbage disposal and property management add another 30 to 60 Euros per month on average to your utility bill.

Restaurants and Services

Especially restaurant meals and drinks are more affordable compared to other countries in the European Union. The price for a regular breakfast in Montenegro with an omelet or similar egg variations costs between three and five Euros. Even in tourist areas. You can have lunch or dinner with drinks for two people for 25 – 30 Euros.

A fancy dinner in one of the old towns can set you back far more off course. What is not cheap in Montenegro is eating fresh fish and ordering bottled wine in a restaurant. As with everywhere else in the world, there are restaurants in tourist areas that almost exclusively cater to foreign visitors with above-average prices.

The estimated monthly cost of living for one person:

• Rent 500 Euros
• Utilities 100 Euros
• Food and eating out 300 Euros
• Transport 150 Euros
• Other  50 Euros

Roughly speaking, if you want to live in Montenegro, you would be looking at monthly expenses of 1,100 Euros on average. If you have a budget of fewer than 750 Euros, it will be barely enough to survive. Many in the ex-pat community spend significantly more than that but they often have several thousand Euros per month available.

Estimated costs of other services:

• public transportation costs 2,50 – 8,00 Euros per bus or train ticket for most destinations inside Montenegro
• Hairdressers starting from 5 Euros for males, 10 Euros for females
• manicure and pedicure from 10 to 30 Euros
• fitness center from 20 Euros
• health check in private hospitals or at the dentist 20 to 80 Euros
• 1 km of taxi ride comes at 0,60 Euros in the capital and around 1,00 Euro at the coast
• international school fee of 1,000 Euros per month
• airport parking 4 Euro per day
• pair of sun loungers with umbrella 10 to 20 Euros per day
• renting a cabin or cottage starting from 35 Euros per night
• ski pass 25 Euros per day
• ski instructor from 10 Euro per hour
• language teacher from 7 Euros per hour
• cleaning services, baby- and pet sitting starting from 5 Euros per hour
• car rental from 10 Euros per day in the off-season
• gardening from 30 Euros
• car repair and craftsman services from 40 Euros

Moving to Montenegro

Due to its visa and immigration policy, it is significantly easier to move to Montenegro compared to many other countries. Many ex-pats leave to settle in Montenegro temporarily or permanently.

This is possible for example by establishing a company or by property purchase.

Once you have decided to stay in Montenegro for longer than your passport/visa allows, you need to see which residency program makes more sense to you. If you have planned on buying a house or apartment in Montenegro, you can get a residency permit by buying property.

This option is not ideal for you if you plan to be outside of Montenegro for more than 90 days a year because you would lose your residency status otherwise. In most cases, it is advisable to get a temporary residence permit by company formation. It is possible to apply for a permanent residence permit after five years if all requirements are fulfilled.

Having obtained your residency by company formation, you do pay a monthly fee to Montenegro’s social security system and can enjoy health and pension benefits in return. The health insurance fund covers stay in hospitals and visits to general practitioners and specialist doctors. The public healthcare system is not ideal though.

As you would expect from a free healthcare system in a still developing country, the service quality and state of the hospitals need to be improved. That is why some ex-pats like locals take out additional private health insurance. It is also common to pay for some treatments in cash. Prices are reasonable, even cheap compared to more developed countries.

Schools in Montenegro

Montenegro has both private and international schools and only a minority of local schoolchildren attend one of the international schools. The monthly tuition for private schools is around 1,000 Euros. The curriculum in private schools is taught in the English language (Russian and French programs are available as well) whereas public schools are only available in the local language. Here is a list of all private schools in Montenegro:

List of private schools

• Knightsbridge Schools International in Tivat (English)
• Arcadia Academy in between Tivat and Kotor (English)
• QSI International in Podgorica (English)
• French European School in Podgorica (French)
• Dukley Academy in Budva (Russian)

The public school system

Depending on where you are from, Montenegro’s school system might be different than you are used to. Before they start first grade, parents can opt to enroll them in a public or private nursery from age one to three, and in kindergarten from age three to six. Pupils in Montenegro start at the age of six and finish elementary school after nine years. 

High school or secondary school education lasts anywhere from 2 – 4 years and can be skewed toward more academic studies or vocational schooling.

Pupils that show a higher interest in theoretical topics and who want to continue their education at the University level need to have finished a total of thirteen years of primary and secondary classes (9 + 4). After the 13th grade, no mandatory military service awaits pupils in Montenegro. Instead, they can enroll straight away into one of the college/University programs.

Most common are university curricula with three years and 180 credit points or four years and 240 credit points and vice versa. Finishing magister studies requires five years of tertiary education in total (3+2 or 4+1). You can earn your Ph.D. title after another three years at age twenty-six earliest and eight years of tertiary and twenty years of comprehensive tuition.

How good is the public school system in Montenegro?

Public schools in Montenegro are average in quality, definitely lacking behind schools in Finland or Estonia but better than in most countries of the world. If you plan living in Montenegro with your family and maybe even get a permanent residence permit, which school to choose will come down to a largely personal decision you have to make. 

An average public school in Montenegro will still be much better than a bad public school in the United States for example. If you do not have the funds (1,000 Euros per month) for a private school, enrolling your children in a public school is the only choice you have anyway. But they are quite decent in the end, and tuition is free.

School holidays in Montenegro

The official school year in Montenegro starts on September 1st and finishes on June 13th. School children thus have a two-and-a-half long summer holiday. The winter school holiday starts on December 31st and ends on January 22nd.

Retitring in Montenegro

As of now, Montenegro has not introduced a dedicated retirement visa. If you have retired already and are asking yourself what your options are in terms of residency, continue reading. In total, there are four options for retirees in Montenegro to regulate their residency status. It is a straightforward process.

• Residency by company formation
• Residency by buying property
• Residency by yacht ownership
• Residency/Citizenship by Investment

If you are a high net-worth retiree, you can also go with the Citizenship by Investment program that requires you to invest 450,000 Euros in one of the government-authorized luxury hotels to receive a passport in return.

If you don’t have that amount of money available, you can go with one of the above-listed residency program options that are described in detail in this article.

I would say the biggest downside to retiring in Montenegro would be the health care system that is not on par with Western European standards. The Montenegrin government is working towards improving it but it might take a couple of years.

Another point to consider is a potential language barrier depending on what area you find yourself in. Some older people only speak in their local language (Montenegrin language, a variant of Serbo-Croatian) and use even the alphabet with Cyrillic letters. 

On the upside, Montenegro is centrally located in Southern Europe and a one or two-hour flight from the major cities in Europe. It has extremely pleasant natural surroundings, the Adriatic coast with its charming coastal towns, and a mild Mediterranean climate. For a European country, it offers low taxes, a low cost of living, and a low crime rate.

Driving in Montenegro

The steering wheel is on the left side of the vehicle and traffic participants drive on the right side of the road. It would be best if you had an international driver’s license from your home country to avoid any trouble with the traffic police. However, in most cases, they will not give you a fine for not having an international license.

Now let’s come to the interesting part when it comes to driving in Montenegro. Montenegro is a mountainous country with many curved roads and serpentines. The speed limit on 90% of the roads is between 50 and 70 kilometers per hour which are low compared to most countries.

Some locals drive what can only be described as hazardous by tailgating and driving much faster than the speed limit would allow for. Montenegro is also a transit country for tourists and guest workers from Europe with Greece or Albania as their final destination. During the peak summer season in July and August, roads can become clogged, especially along the Adriatic Highway.

Motorbike riders should be particularly cautious during summer because it often does not rain for months at a time and roads can become particularly slippery. Trucks and cars can lose engine oil on the asphalt which can feel like driving on ice.

The Montenegrin police are controlling traffic mostly via mobile traffic patrols who are present on all major roads. From time to time they will stop your vehicle and ask for your driver’s license and vehicle registration. Bribery is usually not a thing in Montenegro. Be also aware of driving while under the influence. The allowed limit is 0,30 promille and alco tests are common.

When driving during the winter months, be sure to be equipped with winter tires, especially if you head to the northern part of the country where snow is common. Winter tires and snow chains are mandatory from November 15th until April 1st. Tire spikes are not allowed for use on Montenegrin roads.

Unlike other countries in the region, Montenegro had no motorway until July 13th, 2022 when it was ceremoniously opened. This is the first section of a motorway that, once finished, will connect the city of Bar with Serbia’s capital Belgrade. The section measures 41 kilometers.

source: CRBC

Key Information for drivers

• 0.30 promille permissible amount of alcohol in the blood
• 7,762 km of public roads in Montenegro
• the highway section between Podgorica and Kolasin is a toll road
• a toll is also due for the Sozina tunnel between Podgorica and Bar and the ferry boat connecting Herceg Novi and Tivat
• speed limit on the highway is 100 km/h and 50 – 80 km/h on most other public roads
• traffic in July ad August can clog especially along the Adriatic highway between nearby Croatia and the Albanian border
• Winter tires are mandatory from November 15th until April 1st in most parts of the country (not along the coast)

Ship to Montenegro 

Shipping goods to Montenegro can at times be a challenge. This small country is not part of the European Single Market and big marketplaces such as Amazon do not have warehouses or fulfillment centers in Montenegro. 

Receiving Regular Mail

If you want to receive a letter or documents and want to be 99.9% sure that they arrive, you should send them via international couriers such as DHL or FedEx. If you send it with the regular postal service of your home country, it will sometimes take a couple of weeks, or, in the worst case never arrive.

Experience tells us that mail from the European continent sent by the regular postal service takes on average 14 days. If you send via international courier, it will roughly take 2-3 days. From oversea locations such as the American or Asian continent, we advise sending by international courier exclusively.

Receiving parcels

Receiving anything larger and more valuable than a document is a little bit more facetted. If the value of the parcel does not exceed 75 Euros, the import is duty- and VAT-free. If the value of your parcel is between 75 and 150 Euros, you need to pay a 21% Value Added Tax on the total value of the invoiced item plus transport. 

Example:

If the invoice shows a price of 100 Euros and the transport costs another 20 Euros, you would need to pay 145,20 Euros in total, including 25,20 Euro VAT.

For all values greater than 150 Euros, you pay an import tariff on top of the VAT. The tariff percentage varies but is usually in the 3 – 10 % range.

Prohibited Items

• GMO-modified food and seeds
• drugs and mind-altering substances
• tobacco produces and electronic cigarettes
• animal products like milk and cheese
• medicines and medical devices

Restricted Items

• Drones (requires a permit from the Ministry of Economy)
• Gold, Silver, and other precious metals (requires a permit from the Ministry of Economy)
• Airgun, armroar, harpoon, rifles, and firearms (requires a permit from the Ministry of Economy)
• 3D printers and hardware (requires a permit from the Ministry of Economy)
• Car parts (they will ask for your vehicle registration)