Gaborone vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Gaborone	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$668	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1648	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$243	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$297	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.1	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$382	$105
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	11 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	39	12
😀 Quality of life	61	25
🏙️ Population	236K	989K

The cost of living in Gaborone is 13% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 7301st and 7884th ($668 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Botswana and Malawi, respectively. Check Botswana vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Gaborone compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Gaborone ranked 1st best city to live in Botswana vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 5842nd and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Gaborone vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Gaborone vs Lilongwe

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

	Gaborone	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.79	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$28.4	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.66	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.12	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$2.17	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$222	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$137	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$402	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$249	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$39.5	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.1	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.7	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	9.04%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1000	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$994	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.5	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$29	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.2	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.08	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.82	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.74	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.22	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.45	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.87	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.22	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.71	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.78	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.55	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.22	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.57	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.34	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$4.24	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.48	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.55	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.5	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.31	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.51	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.89	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$30.5	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$6.36	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$18.1	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$4.46	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$43.2	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$67.6	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$138	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$3401	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gaborone

Distance	City	Cost of living
50 km or 31 mi	Molepolole	$607
67 km or 42 mi	Lobatse	$637
67 km or 42 mi	Kanye	$637
136 km or 84 mi	Mmabatho	$833
174 km or 108 mi	Rustenburg	$940
196 km or 122 mi	Mahalapye	$577
215 km or 134 mi	Brits	$875
257 km or 160 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
258 km or 160 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
259 km or 161 mi	Pretoria	$975
264 km or 164 mi	Randburg	$890
265 km or 165 mi	Palapye	$514
266 km or 165 mi	Centurion	$892
266 km or 165 mi	Soweto	$984
266 km or 165 mi	Serowe	$536
269 km or 167 mi	Sandton	$984
275 km or 171 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
296 km or 184 mi	Benoni	$826
298 km or 185 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
302 km or 188 mi	Vereeniging	$706
310 km or 193 mi	Springs	$740
358 km or 222 mi	Kroonstad	$808
379 km or 235 mi	Welkom	$762
380 km or 236 mi	Middelburg	$830
407 km or 253 mi	Bethal	$838
421 km or 261 mi	Francistown	$587
468 km or 291 mi	Kimberley	$861
495 km or 308 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
514 km or 319 mi	Butha-Buthe	$570
531 km or 330 mi	Teyateyaneng	$533
540 km or 336 mi	Maseru	$650
559 km or 347 mi	Mbabane	$599
569 km or 354 mi	Bulawayo	$658
584 km or 363 mi	Manzini	$469
589 km or 366 mi	Mafeteng	$598
597 km or 371 mi	Vryheid	$827
628 km or 390 mi	Upington	$746
675 km or 419 mi	Matola	$908
685 km or 425 mi	Maputo	$915
705 km or 438 mi	Gweru	$587

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