Methodology
How the engine works, and how it cites.
A reader gives a situation. The engine screens it against published records and returns a source-cited shortlist of countries, regions, and towns.
The method
From situation to cited shortlist.
Collect the cited values
Every fact that could be wrong is stored as a cited value: value, source URL, source name, verified date, confidence, and geographic scope.
Screen against selected constraints
Profiles surface the variables that matter for the scenario. Dealbreakers are applied as filters. Comparisons are calculated only across the selected criteria.
Show the calculation
Each result names the matching and missing dimensions. No-data rows are separate from low scores, and low-confidence figures remain visible.
The contract
How a figure is built.
A number is not treated as self-explanatory. The page records what it measures, where it came from, when it was checked, and how much confidence it deserves.
Eurostat, price level index for actual individual consumption (tec00120, EU27=100)
2026-06-24
high
country
Portugal price level index for actual individual consumption (EU27 = 100): 86.6 in 2025 (100 = EU average).
Confidence
Confidence tiers are visible in the interface.
high
Primary or official source, or a direct statistical source with a current verification date.
medium
Credible secondary source, professional summary, or official page that still needs tighter primary-source reconciliation.
low
Useful signal that is not yet verified against a primary source. It stays visible, labelled, and weighted accordingly.
Freshness
Freshness windows are stricter for high-liability claims.
Tax, visa, and residency values use a short freshness window. If a value ages out, the page should show a warning before treating it as current.
Default freshness window for tax, visa, and residency values unless a field sets a stricter one.
Granularity
A figure says which place level it can support.
Country data can screen a country. Region data can narrow a region. Town data is required before a local dossier can make local claims.
National rules, national indexes, and country-level comparison rows.
Regional context where national data is too broad for the reader's question.
Local living evidence. A town page stays held until this level clears the data gate.
Fence
The product screens evidence. It does not tell a reader what to do.
MSC does not provide legal, tax, immigration, financial, or individualized relocation guidance.
High-liability claims stay tied to official sources, visible confidence, verified dates, and a route to source inspection.
Machine-readable artifacts