Abu Dhabi vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Abu Dhabi	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1828	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4703	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$1173	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$2618	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$439	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$70.6	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3781	$275
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	53	13
😀 Quality of life	83	20
🏙️ Population	1.48M	989K

The cost of living in Abu Dhabi is 211% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 2320th and 7807th ($1828 vs $587) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Malawi, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2.1 months in Abu Dhabi compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Abu Dhabi ranked 3rd best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 438th and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Abu Dhabi vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Abu Dhabi vs Lilongwe

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

	Abu Dhabi	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.6	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.61	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$10.8	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$5.72	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.23	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1236	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$918	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2996	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2225	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$87.9	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$135	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$104	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.24%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5750	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4816	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.68	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$25.2	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.53	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.78	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.12	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.87	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.52	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.66	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.23	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.27	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.54	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.98	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.81	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$4.88	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$65.3	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.5	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$89.9	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$13.7	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$58.9	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$96.2	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$641	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12452	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Abu Dhabi

Distance	City	Cost of living
117 km or 73 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
129 km or 80 mi	Dubai	$2379
142 km or 88 mi	Sharjah	$1494
143 km or 89 mi	Al Ain	$1844
152 km or 94 mi	Ajman	$2240
170 km or 105 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
211 km or 131 mi	Fujairah	$1239
237 km or 147 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
300 km or 187 mi	Doha	$1779
318 km or 198 mi	Al Khor	$1709
356 km or 221 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
365 km or 227 mi	Nizwa	$780
395 km or 246 mi	Seeb	$967
425 km or 264 mi	Riffa	$1223
427 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
428 km or 266 mi	Isa Town	$1243
439 km or 273 mi	Muscat	$1090
454 km or 282 mi	Jahrom	$547
468 km or 291 mi	Dhahran	$1068
481 km or 299 mi	Dammam	$1056
486 km or 302 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
501 km or 311 mi	Fasa	$548
514 km or 320 mi	Qatif	$897
548 km or 341 mi	Jubail	$901
568 km or 353 mi	Sirjan	$514
575 km or 357 mi	Jiroft	$518
599 km or 372 mi	Shiraz	$589
610 km or 379 mi	Bushehr	$551
617 km or 384 mi	Borazjan	$546
620 km or 385 mi	Marvdasht	$563
632 km or 392 mi	Kazerun	$557
637 km or 396 mi	Chabahar	$585
649 km or 404 mi	Bam	$515
678 km or 421 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
698 km or 434 mi	Kerman	$464
701 km or 435 mi	Iranshahr	$605
741 km or 460 mi	Yasuj	$529
775 km or 481 mi	Riyadh	$1637
790 km or 491 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
792 km or 492 mi	Behbahan	$536

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$492
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$493
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$457
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$566
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$507
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$825
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$525
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$748
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$992
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$794
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$675
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$461
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$752
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$541
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$947
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$872
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$738
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$776
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$917
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1018
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$723
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$875
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1003
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$730
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1050
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1506
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$597
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1150
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$854
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$700
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$961
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$766
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$502
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$486
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$688