Kabul vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kabul	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$474	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1052	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$203	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$302	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$158	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$81.8	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$218	$275
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	30	13
😀 Quality of life	14	20
🏙️ Population	4.27M	989K

The cost of living in Kabul is 19% less expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 8769th and 7807th ($474 vs $587) 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 0.5 months in Kabul compared to 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 9071st 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 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	$2.38	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$9.34	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.64	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.11	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$1.53	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.32	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$140	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$90	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$312	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$141	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$43.2	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$66.8	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$59.8	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.54%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$404	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$202	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.2	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$18.8	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.27	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.88	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.27	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.18	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.39	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.36	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.88	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.77	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.55	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.39	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.41	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.2	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.88	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.12	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.49	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.38	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.97	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.48	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.01	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.37	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$12.8	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.15	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.2	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.79	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$16.1	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.4	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$17.2	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1356	$2351

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$386
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$303
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$389
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$366
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$381
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$346
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$379
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$394
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$366
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$364
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$408
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$382
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$442
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$596
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$401
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$414
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$458
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$593
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$605
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$354
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$355
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$468
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$292
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$389
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$273
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$342
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$380
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$306
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$373
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$354
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$266
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$392
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$305
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$308
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$361
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$281
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$374
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$321
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$476

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