Kuala Lumpur vs Lilongwe - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Kuala Lumpur	Lilongwe
🚶 Cost of living one person	$810	$587
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1984	$1571
🏠 One person rent	$393	$251
🏘️ Family rent	$711	$555
🍽️ Food expenses	$278	$237
🚐 Transport expenses	$64.8	$51.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1392	$275
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	16 km	22 km
🎓 Higher education	93	13
😀 Quality of life	77	20
🏙️ Population	1.98M	989K

The cost of living in Kuala Lumpur is 38% more expensive than in Lilongwe. Cities ranked 6403rd and 7807th ($810 vs $587) 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 0.5 months in Lilongwe. Kuala Lumpur ranked 1st best city to live in Malaysia vs Lilongwe ranked 4th in Malawi, while ranked 811th 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 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	$4.17	$4.27
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.4	$24.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$8.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.64	$1.37
☕ Cappuccino	$2.93	$2.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.82	$0.93
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$450	$373
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$297	$114
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$928	$362
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$548	$474
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$40.3	$34.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$61.8	$53.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$25.4	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.59%	12.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2996	$10555
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1427	$588
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.69	$0.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$11.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.04	$5.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.49	$1.35
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.9	$0.95
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.95
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.37	$1.29
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$2.29
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.64	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9	$4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.81	$2.36
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.58	$1.49
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.45	$1.32
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.1	$1.26
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.21	$1.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.42
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.8	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.04	$0.91
🚬 Cigarette pack	$4.05	$1.57
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.45	$2.11
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.64	$4.11
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.57	$0.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.19	$0.68
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$28.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.82	$4.17
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$20	$17
💇 Haircut, simple	$5.65	$3.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$56.9	$23.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$77.6	$49.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$254	$349
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8723	$2351

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	$701
15 km or 9.1 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
19 km or 12 mi	Shah Alam	$645
24 km or 15 mi	Putrajaya	$532
25 km or 16 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
30 km or 19 mi	Klang	$670
54 km or 33 mi	Seremban	$604
123 km or 77 mi	Malacca	$669
124 km or 77 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
155 km or 97 mi	Muar	$682
167 km or 104 mi	Dumai	$543
176 km or 109 mi	Ipoh	$628
196 km or 122 mi	Kuantan	$529
199 km or 124 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
211 km or 131 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
217 km or 135 mi	Taiping	$695
219 km or 136 mi	Kluang	$679
229 km or 142 mi	Chukai	$565
282 km or 175 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
291 km or 181 mi	Butterworth	$619
291 km or 181 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501
292 km or 181 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
293 km or 182 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
294 km or 183 mi	George Town	$620
297 km or 184 mi	Johor Bahru	$759
309 km or 192 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
311 km or 193 mi	Singapore City	$3059
315 km or 195 mi	Bukit Merah	$2788
335 km or 208 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
338 km or 210 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
341 km or 212 mi	Medan	$481
346 km or 215 mi	Batam	$539
360 km or 224 mi	Binjai	$470
361 km or 225 mi	Alor Setar	$490
394 km or 245 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$506
402 km or 250 mi	Kangar	$536
413 km or 257 mi	Langkawi	$560
441 km or 274 mi	Langsa	$461
451 km or 280 mi	Hat Yai	$570
457 km or 284 mi	Ko Lipe	$719

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