Brisbane vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brisbane	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2269	$591
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5424	$1409
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$2462	$382
🍽️ Food expenses	$574	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$51.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4258	$121
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	66	14
😀 Quality of life	98	30
🏙️ Population	2.71M	989K

The cost of living in Brisbane is 284% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 1349th and 8027th ($2269 vs $591) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 1st in Australia and Malawi, respectively. Check Australia vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Brisbane compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Brisbane ranked 3rd best city to live in Australia vs Lilongwe ranked 3rd in Malawi, while ranked 3rd and 8837th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Brisbane vs Lilongwe

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

	Brisbane	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$4.25
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.3	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.8	$8.08
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.04	$1.54
☕ Cappuccino	$4.09	$2.31
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.89	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1660	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1147	$112
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3002	$601
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2079	$198
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.2	$34.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$144	$52.7
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.2	$50.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.78%	12.71%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7935	$9004
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5145	$506
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$11.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19	$5.64
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.05
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$1.09
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.95	$2.28
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.35	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$3.28
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$3.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.73	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$1.23
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$1.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.25
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.99	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.83	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14	$12.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.89	$0.9
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.1	$1.74
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.94	$2.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.47	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.57	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48	$28.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$4.53
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.1	$17.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$3.64
👖 Brand Jeans	$81.5	$22.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$48.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1949	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12459	$2330

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brisbane

Distance	City	Cost of living
31 km or 19 mi	Ipswich	$1813
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1988
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2352
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1864
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1288
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1640
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1997
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1867
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2379
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$2050
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1710
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2482
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2844
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1699
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1477
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1695
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1821
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2223
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1824
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$1839
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1815
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1904
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1487
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$1979
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1928
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1896
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2496
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1860
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1829
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1894

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$521
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$495
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$530
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$505
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$828
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1002
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1024
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$768
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$815
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$469
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$764
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$613
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$924
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$686
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1030
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1189
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1473
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$754
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1229
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$706
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1521
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$577
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1181
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$861
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$750
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1039
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$630
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$506
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$408
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$718