Cape Town vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Cape Town	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1071	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2522	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$582	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$1083	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$273	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$124	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1532	$275
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	56	13
😀 Quality of life	58	20
🏙️ Population	3.78M	989K

The cost of living in Cape Town is 82% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 5016th and 7807th ($1071 vs $587) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in South Africa and Malawi, respectively. Check South Africa vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Cape Town compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Cape Town ranked 1st best city to live in South Africa vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 5491st and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Cape Town vs Lilongwe infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/cape-town/lilongwe.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Cape Town vs Lilongwe infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/cape-town/lilongwe" target="_blank">Cape Town vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Cape Town vs Lilongwe

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

	Cape Town	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$8.4	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$32.1	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.87	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.58	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.03	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.03	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$677	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$435	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1304	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$863	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$59.9	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$93.1	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$38.9	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.89%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1804	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1180	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.09	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$39	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.47	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.08	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.03	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.48	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.58	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.33	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.42	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.24	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.43	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$5.48	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.39	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.02	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.02	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.17	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.11	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.49	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$34.4	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.22	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$35.7	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.05	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$51	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$204	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$4806	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Cape Town

Distance	City	Cost of living
54 km or 33 mi	Paarl	$1147
99 km or 62 mi	Worcester	$619
371 km or 231 mi	George	$743
644 km or 400 mi	Uitenhage	$840
662 km or 411 mi	Port Elizabeth	$901
664 km or 413 mi	Upington	$699
754 km or 468 mi	Makhanda	$763
821 km or 510 mi	Komani	$915
833 km or 518 mi	Kimberley	$814
845 km or 525 mi	Bhisho	$1332
882 km or 548 mi	East London	$766
912 km or 567 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
950 km or 590 mi	Mafeteng	$567
999 km or 621 mi	Maseru	$621
1002 km or 622 mi	Mthatha	$852
1029 km or 639 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
1030 km or 640 mi	Welkom	$748
1034 km or 643 mi	Mariental	$827
1092 km or 679 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
1092 km or 679 mi	Kroonstad	$768
1113 km or 692 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
1135 km or 705 mi	Mmabatho	$780
1155 km or 718 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
1187 km or 737 mi	Rehoboth	$792
1194 km or 742 mi	Lobatse	$665
1198 km or 745 mi	Kanye	$664
1208 km or 751 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
1217 km or 756 mi	Vereeniging	$672
1231 km or 765 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
1244 km or 773 mi	Soweto	$923
1250 km or 777 mi	Rustenburg	$889
1260 km or 783 mi	Gaborone	$691
1261 km or 783 mi	Molepolole	$628
1261 km or 784 mi	Johannesburg	$993
1267 km or 788 mi	Randburg	$837
1269 km or 789 mi	Windhoek	$862
1270 km or 789 mi	Sandton	$953
1271 km or 790 mi	Durban	$809
1277 km or 794 mi	Gobabis	$813
1279 km or 795 mi	Walvis Bay	$740

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