Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 01, 2024

	Kuala Lumpur	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$743	$367
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1779	$904
🏠 One person rent	$367	$147
🏘️ Family rent	$648	$237
🍽️ Food expenses	$248	$141
🚐 Transport expenses	$62.1	$42.4
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1229	$306
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	93	13
😀 Quality of life	77	26
🏙️ Population	1.98M	989K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 103% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 6605th and 9038th ($743 vs $367) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malaysia and Malawi, respectively. Check Malaysia vs Malawi comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Kuala Lumpur compared to 0.8 months in Lilongwe. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Lilongwe ranked 2nd in Malawi, while ranked 772nd and 8741st among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/kuala-lumpur/lilongwe.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/kuala-lumpur/lilongwe" target="_blank">Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe

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

	Kuala Lumpur	Lilongwe
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.2	$2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$22.4	$17.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.1	$2.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.51	$0.78
☕ Cappuccino	$2.75	$1.74
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.74	$0.62
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$424	$228
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$276	$75.5
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$872	$277
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$492	$168
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$36.4	$10.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$54.4	$16.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.6	$31.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.16%	14.98%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2386	$9504
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1168	$356
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.63	$0.59
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.1	$8.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$8.81	$5.44
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.43	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$0.83
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.84	$0.69
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$0.8
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.97	$1.77
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.1	$7.91
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.07	$1.92
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.82	$3.26
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.45	$1.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.35	$0.93
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.55	$2.09
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.39	$0.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.93	$1.13
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.84	$0.9
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.41	$0.18
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.04	$0.58
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.5	$7.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$0.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.78	$0.88
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.91	$1.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$2.85	$1.33
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.49	$0.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.6	$0.71
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$40.6	$21.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.27	$3.06
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.7	$12.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.62	$1.78
👖 Brand Jeans	$49.1	$25
👟 Brand Sneakers	$69.7	$32.7
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$208	$217
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$6454	$1424

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kuala Lumpur

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.7 mi	Petaling Jaya	$645
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$644
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$582
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$480
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$539
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$553
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$545
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$602
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$565
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$611
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$554
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$550
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$482
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$609
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$515
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$638
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$610
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$512
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$485
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$578
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$465
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$558
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$499
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$566
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$623
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$544
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3007
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2733
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$596
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$455
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$500
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$585
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$483
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$453
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$511
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$487
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$496
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$472
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$520
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$650

Cities near Lilongwe

Distance	City	Cost of living
123 km or 76 mi	Monkey Bay	$335
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$332
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$332
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$326
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$337
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$363
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$970
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$338
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$327
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1176
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$957
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$761
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$852
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$784
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$992
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$968
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$457
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$645
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$1210
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$993
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$1165
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$777
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1121
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1238
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1236
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$689
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1107
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1014
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$691
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1025
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1144
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$722
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1127
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$837
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$795
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$953
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$777
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$581
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$600
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$734