Abidjan vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Abidjan	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1224	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2885	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$548	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$912	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$370	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$197	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$198	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	33	12
😀 Quality of life	43	25
🏙️ Population	5.62M	989K

The cost of living in Abidjan is 107% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 4654th and 7884th ($1224 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Ivory Coast and Malawi, respectively. Check Ivory Coast vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Abidjan compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Abidjan ranked 1st best city to live in Ivory Coast vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 7383rd and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Abidjan vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Abidjan vs Lilongwe

Prices for goods and services in Abidjan and Lilongwe are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Abidjan	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.07	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$70.9	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.4	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.05	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.83	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$467	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$853	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$656	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$176	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$40	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	14.66%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2430	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1432	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.98	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$48.2	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.9	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.56	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$2.1	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.52	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.15	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.17	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$24.8	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.87	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.19	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.09	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.59	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.83	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.52	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.06	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.76	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.67	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.93	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.35	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.58	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.8	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.83	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.7	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$88.9	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$293	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3211	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abidjan

Distance	City	Cost of living
36 km or 22 mi	Grand-Bassam	$1059
39 km or 24 mi	Dabou	$1057
70 km or 43 mi	Agboville	$1057
157 km or 98 mi	Divo	$1083
166 km or 103 mi	Abengourou	$1066
215 km or 134 mi	Yamoussoukro	$1056
229 km or 142 mi	Gagnoa	$1082
255 km or 158 mi	Sekondi-Takoradi	$649
276 km or 172 mi	Obuasi	$631
284 km or 176 mi	Bouake	$1123
306 km or 190 mi	Kumasi	$532
425 km or 264 mi	Koforidua	$668
426 km or 265 mi	Accra	$822
444 km or 276 mi	Ashaiman	$630
445 km or 277 mi	Tema	$600
491 km or 305 mi	Korhogo	$1099
517 km or 321 mi	Ho	$417
537 km or 334 mi	Hohoe	$652
544 km or 338 mi	Kpalime	$684
556 km or 345 mi	Greenville	$502
557 km or 346 mi	Yekepa	$503
564 km or 350 mi	Sanniquellie	$503
572 km or 356 mi	Tamale	$576
587 km or 365 mi	Lome	$835
593 km or 369 mi	Nzerekore	$1003
619 km or 385 mi	Atakpame	$699
651 km or 404 mi	Bobo-Dioulasso	$831
659 km or 410 mi	Sotouboua	$703
675 km or 419 mi	Leo	$846
689 km or 428 mi	Sikasso	$514
696 km or 433 mi	Abomey	$598
699 km or 434 mi	Sokode	$705
712 km or 442 mi	Kakata	$502
722 km or 449 mi	Cotonou	$793
742 km or 461 mi	Kara	$712
746 km or 463 mi	Porto-Novo	$743
758 km or 471 mi	Monrovia	$536
764 km or 475 mi	Gueckedou	$1010
775 km or 482 mi	Manga	$877
776 km or 482 mi	Bougouni	$508

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653