Dhaka vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dhaka	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$464	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1123	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$141	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$240	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.7	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$105
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	73	12
😀 Quality of life	57	25
🏙️ Population	16.8M	989K

The cost of living in Dhaka is 22% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8829th and 7884th ($464 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Bangladesh and Malawi, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dhaka compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 6151st and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dhaka vs Lilongwe infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Dhaka vs Lilongwe

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

	Dhaka	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.14	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.2	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.09	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$149	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$95.5	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$22.7	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.1	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.01%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$939	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$535	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.3	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.36	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.6	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.64	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.2	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.02	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.6	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.35	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.6	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.92	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.15	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.47	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.88	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.88	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.7	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.15	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.7	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$46.2	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$57.7	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1844	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$348
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$352
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$332
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$362
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$312
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$282
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$301
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$300
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$287
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$321
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$286
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$358
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$313
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$294
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$320
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$312
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$313
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$328
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$317
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$315
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$320
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$297
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$315
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$456
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$324
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$320
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$327
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$335
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$318
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$312
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$318
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$323
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$366
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$332
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$308
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$354
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$333
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$302

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