Dhaka vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dhaka	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1093	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$118	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$238	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$194	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.1	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$275
😷 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 27% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8899th and 7807th ($430 vs $587) 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 0.6 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 5971st and 8847th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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	$1.89	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.4	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.23	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.06	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.31	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$123	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$73.8	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$290	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$168	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.6	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.3	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.62%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$963	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$528	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.5	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.43	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.66	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.62	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.3	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.37	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.51	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.86	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.46	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.86	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.55	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.89	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.3	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11.9	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.37	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.5	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.3	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$47.4	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$309
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$295
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$367
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$287
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$264
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$303
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$289
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$280
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$305
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$294
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$351
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$328
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$304
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$337
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$327
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$327
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$347
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$334
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$329
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$337
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$307
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$330
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$478
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$338
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$336
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$345
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$355
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$333
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$327
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$331
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$332
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$404
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$354
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$296
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$408
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$350
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$314

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