Ashgabat vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Ashgabat	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1833	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4223	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$893	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$1483	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$782	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$49.8	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$747	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	7	12
😀 Quality of life	49	25
🏙️ Population	1.03M	989K

The cost of living in Ashgabat is 210% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 2595th and 7884th ($1833 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Turkmenistan and Malawi, respectively. Check Turkmenistan vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Ashgabat compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Ashgabat ranked 1st best city to live in Turkmenistan vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 6667th and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Ashgabat vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Ashgabat vs Lilongwe

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

	Ashgabat	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$31.3	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$85.3	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12.8	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.48	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$7.08	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.16	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1020	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$674	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1780	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1190	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$47.3	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$73.2	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$102	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.49%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4806	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2978	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.14	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.51	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.77	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.43	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$4.77	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.69	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.3	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.17	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.26	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.7	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$19.4	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.44	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.58	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.56	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.79	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.1	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.1	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.7	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.19	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.81	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.2	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$33.8	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.4	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$65.8	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$93.9	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$23	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25686	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Ashgabat

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.2 mi	Anau	$1774
95 km or 59 mi	Quchan	$500
99 km or 61 mi	Baherden	$1796
107 km or 66 mi	Bojnord	$489
197 km or 123 mi	Nishapur	$496
203 km or 126 mi	Sabzevar	$512
212 km or 132 mi	Mashhad	$503
294 km or 183 mi	Gonbad-e Kavus	$467
302 km or 187 mi	Kashmar	$506
306 km or 190 mi	Mary	$1654
307 km or 191 mi	Torbat-e Heydarieh	$502
344 km or 213 mi	Shahrud	$564
361 km or 224 mi	Torbat-e Jam	$493
367 km or 228 mi	Gorgan	$658
451 km or 280 mi	Dasoguz	$1770
469 km or 291 mi	Turkmenabat	$1716
496 km or 308 mi	Sari	$643
513 km or 318 mi	Nukus	$477
516 km or 321 mi	Qaem Shahr	$501
517 km or 321 mi	Semnan	$542
524 km or 325 mi	Herat	$509
528 km or 328 mi	Babol	$372
558 km or 347 mi	Amol	$530
561 km or 349 mi	Bukhara	$433
570 km or 354 mi	Birjand	$588
634 km or 394 mi	Pardis	$598
654 km or 406 mi	Qarshi	$512
657 km or 408 mi	Pakdasht	$604
660 km or 410 mi	Golestan	$628
667 km or 414 mi	Sheberghan	$432
668 km or 415 mi	Qarchak	$607
668 km or 415 mi	Tehran	$684
670 km or 417 mi	Varamin	$588
671 km or 417 mi	Ray	$622
693 km or 431 mi	Qods	$638
694 km or 431 mi	Eslamshahr	$623
695 km or 432 mi	Nasimshahr	$624
700 km or 435 mi	Shahriar	$635
701 km or 435 mi	Karaj	$704
703 km or 437 mi	Fardis	$640

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