Kabul vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Kabul	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$458	$592
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1016	$1419
🏠 One person rent	$195	$250
🏘️ Family rent	$267	$390
🍽️ Food expenses	$153	$241
🚐 Transport expenses	$76.9	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$104	$105
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	30	12
😀 Quality of life	33	25
🏙️ Population	4.27M	989K

The cost of living in Kabul is 23% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8842nd and 7884th ($458 vs $592) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Afghanistan and Malawi, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Kabul compared to 0.2 months in Lilongwe. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Lilongwe ranked 7th in Malawi, while ranked 8609th and 8966th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kabul vs Lilongwe infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Lilongwe

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

	Kabul	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.45	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.2	$24.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.48	$8.09
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$1.55
☕ Cappuccino	$1.19	$2.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.36	$1.43
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$93.7	$374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$62.8	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$603
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$111	$207
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.9	$34.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$48.1	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$95.2	$50.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.06%	12.87%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$505	$10587
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$260	$593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$0.92
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.78	$5.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$1.06
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.22	$1.07
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.42
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.47	$2.27
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$3.25
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.13	$4.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.54	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$1.34
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.45	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.24	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.98	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$1.81	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.75	$0.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.72	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$2.12
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.88	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.52	$0.66
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$10.2	$29.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.23	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.4	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.1	$3.59
👖 Brand Jeans	$18	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.6	$49.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$19.7	$353
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1486	$2356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$401
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$354
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$396
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$393
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$404
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$334
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$364
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$428
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$354
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$351
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$470
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$344
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$443
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$684
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$416
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$432
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$376
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$680
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$712
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$277
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$326
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$436
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$294
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$372
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$265
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$351
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$363
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$333
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$320
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$254
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$340
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$291
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$403
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$303
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$302
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$362
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$311
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$368
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$316
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$439

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