Ashgabat vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Ashgabat	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1584	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3634	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$798	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$1502	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$609	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$49.1	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$718	$275
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	7	13
😀 Quality of life	29	20
🏙️ Population	1.03M	989K

The cost of living in Ashgabat is 170% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 3105th and 7807th ($1584 vs $587) 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 0.5 months in Ashgabat compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Ashgabat ranked 1st best city to live in Turkmenistan vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 8250th and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
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	$25.9	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$60.4	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.1	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.4	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$5.56	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.25	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$884	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$607	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1501	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1302	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$45.2	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$70	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$90.5	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	8.58%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3897	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3006	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.14	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$8.52	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.74	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.38	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$3	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.35	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.49	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.83	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.29	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.83	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.9	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.02	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.81	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.41	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.74	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.08	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$27.3	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.79	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.2	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.01	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.8	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.77	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$112	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.7	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$31.8	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$6.36	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$69.9	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$92.4	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$22.7	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6132	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Ashgabat

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.2 mi	Anau	$1553
95 km or 59 mi	Quchan	$515
99 km or 61 mi	Baherden	$1541
107 km or 66 mi	Bojnord	$510
197 km or 123 mi	Nishapur	$509
203 km or 126 mi	Sabzevar	$524
212 km or 132 mi	Mashhad	$508
294 km or 183 mi	Gonbad-e Kavus	$495
302 km or 187 mi	Kashmar	$521
306 km or 190 mi	Mary	$1503
307 km or 191 mi	Torbat-e Heydarieh	$521
344 km or 213 mi	Shahrud	$598
361 km or 224 mi	Torbat-e Jam	$550
367 km or 228 mi	Gorgan	$685
451 km or 280 mi	Dasoguz	$1535
469 km or 291 mi	Turkmenabat	$1523
496 km or 308 mi	Sari	$658
513 km or 318 mi	Nukus	$392
516 km or 321 mi	Qaem Shahr	$554
517 km or 321 mi	Semnan	$580
524 km or 325 mi	Herat	$512
528 km or 328 mi	Babol	$458
558 km or 347 mi	Amol	$557
561 km or 349 mi	Bukhara	$431
570 km or 354 mi	Birjand	$574
634 km or 394 mi	Pardis	$665
654 km or 406 mi	Qarshi	$484
657 km or 408 mi	Pakdasht	$680
660 km or 410 mi	Golestan	$714
667 km or 414 mi	Sheberghan	$414
668 km or 415 mi	Qarchak	$681
668 km or 415 mi	Tehran	$788
670 km or 417 mi	Varamin	$651
671 km or 417 mi	Ray	$710
693 km or 431 mi	Qods	$698
694 km or 431 mi	Eslamshahr	$700
695 km or 432 mi	Nasimshahr	$697
700 km or 435 mi	Shahriar	$698
701 km or 435 mi	Karaj	$736
703 km or 437 mi	Fardis	$688

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