Kabul vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Kabul	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$599	$582
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1271	$1336
🏠 One person rent	$285	$260
🏘️ Family rent	$403	$352
🍽️ Food expenses	$182	$216
🚐 Transport expenses	$96.7	$57.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$188	$278
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	29	13
😀 Quality of life	13	20
🏙️ Population	4.27M	989K

The cost of living in Kabul is 3% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 7801st and 7990th ($599 vs $582) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Afghanistan and Malawi, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 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 9123rd and 8861st 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	$2.69	$3.23
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$8.83	$25.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$6.92	$3.86
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.75	$0.93
☕ Cappuccino	$1.82	$2.43
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.38	$0.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$168	$375
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$123	$113
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$381	$363
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$182	$202
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.5	$44.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$82.3	$68.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$99.3	$49.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	21.36%	12.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$451	$10490
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$274	$589
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$0.93
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$19.2	$11.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.29	$6.99
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.99	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.88	$1.22
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.32	$1.08
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.31	$1.19
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.5	$2.56
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.73	$13.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.07	$3.05
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.69	$5.01
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.74	$2.24
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$1.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.89	$2.6
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.59	$1.13
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.36	$1.57
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.32	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.24	$0.29
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.98	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.62	$0.95
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.56	$1.59
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.24	$2.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.81	$4.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.09	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.47	$0.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$13.3	$33.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.34	$4.11
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$13.1	$17.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.99	$3.63
👖 Brand Jeans	$13.6	$23
👟 Brand Sneakers	$46.1	$49.3
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$23.8	$350
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1452	$2358

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	$469
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$358
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$476
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$441
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$457
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$338
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$374
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$467
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$372
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$354
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$470
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$323
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$439
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$659
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$376
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$450
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$456
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$655
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$672
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$328
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$341
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$521
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$292
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$373
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$277
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$344
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$380
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$319
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$330
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$273
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$388
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$285
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$371
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$312
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$280
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$358
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$335
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$376
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$308
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$487

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