Dhaka vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Dhaka	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$428	$582
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1078	$1336
🏠 One person rent	$121	$260
🏘️ Family rent	$235	$352
🍽️ Food expenses	$191	$216
🚐 Transport expenses	$77.7	$57.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$282	$278
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	72	13
😀 Quality of life	54	20
🏙️ Population	16.8M	989K

The cost of living in Dhaka is 26% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8916th and 7990th ($428 vs $582) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Bangladesh and Malawi, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.7 months in Dhaka compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 5968th and 8861st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Dhaka vs Lilongwe infographic

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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	$1.9	$3.23
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.5	$25.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.57	$3.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.18	$0.93
☕ Cappuccino	$2.07	$2.43
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.29	$0.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$137	$375
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$77.4	$113
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$293	$363
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$167	$202
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$19.5	$44.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$29.7	$68.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$49.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.48%	12.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1008	$10490
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$531	$589
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.42	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.8	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.51	$6.99
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.05	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.68	$1.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.63	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.22	$2.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.18	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.26	$3.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.58	$5.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$2.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.75	$1.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.68	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.4	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.81	$1.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.65	$2.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.97	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.79	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$0.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$18.1	$33.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.13	$4.11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.1	$17.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.4	$3.63
👖 Brand Jeans	$17.2	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.4	$49.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$45.9	$350
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1444	$2358

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	$301
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$271
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$290
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$380
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$295
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$256
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$339
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$290
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$282
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$279
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$294
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$296
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$307
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$312
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$335
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$309
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$342
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$332
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$335
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$353
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$341
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$336
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$343
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$311
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$336
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$461
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$344
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$343
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$351
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$360
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$340
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$334
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$338
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$338
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$408
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$360
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$298
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$390
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$356
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$317

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$526
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$515
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$516
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$498
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$574
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$591
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$834
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$534
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$500
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1079
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1012
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$810
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$890
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$830
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$670
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$894
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$433
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$662
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$1139
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$953
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$1190
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$685
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1017
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1116
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1090
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$729
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1028
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$731
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1007
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1500
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$761
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1394
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$871
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$725
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$939
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$756
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$564
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$639
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$670