Lilongwe vs Lisbon - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lilongwe	Lisbon
🚶 Cost of living one person	$592	$1889
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1419	$4274
🏠 One person rent	$250	$1221
🏘️ Family rent	$390	$2077
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$421
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$96.9
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$105	$1510
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	12	93
😀 Quality of life	25	84
🏙️ Population	989K	546K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 69% less expensive than in Lisbon. Cities ranked 7884th and 2357th ($592 vs $1889) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Malawi and Portugal, respectively. Check Malawi vs Portugal comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.8 months in Lisbon. Lilongwe ranked 7th best city to live in Malawi vs Lisbon ranked 2nd in Portugal, while ranked 8966th and 479th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Lisbon infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Lisbon

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

	Lilongwe	Lisbon
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$12.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$55.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.09	$9.96
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$3.25
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$3.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$2.42
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$374	$1374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$1010
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$603	$2516
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$1726
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$102
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$156
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.6	$36.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.87%	3.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10587	$7218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$593	$4683
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$2.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$45.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$12.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$2.03
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.16
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.07	$1.58
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.51
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$3.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$12.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$8.37
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.01	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.35
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.67
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.97
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$2.46
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.94
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.54
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$2.75
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12	$6.57
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$1.34
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$6.84
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.12	$6.84
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$4.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.75
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$2.31
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.1	$45.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$8.64
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$90.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.59	$13.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$109
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.5	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$353	$624
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2356	$17217

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Lisbon

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.6 mi	Almada	$1701
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Amadora	$1481
8.8 km or 5.5 mi	Queluz	$1522
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Odivelas	$1505
10 km or 6.3 mi	Barreiro	$1463
11 km or 6.7 mi	Amora	$1352
12 km or 7.3 mi	Seixal	$1394
12 km or 7.4 mi	Oeiras	$1756
13 km or 8 mi	Agualva-Cacem	$1533
13 km or 8.1 mi	Loures	$1509
17 km or 10 mi	Montijo	$1663
18 km or 11 mi	Moita	$1486
18 km or 11 mi	Algueirao-Mem Martins	$1525
21 km or 13 mi	Sintra	$1577
22 km or 14 mi	Cascais	$1656
28 km or 17 mi	Mafra	$1486
29 km or 18 mi	Palmela	$1412
30 km or 19 mi	Vila Franca de Xira	$1216
31 km or 19 mi	Sesimbra	$1329
32 km or 20 mi	Setubal	$1390
39 km or 24 mi	Alenquer	$1379
42 km or 26 mi	Torres Vedras	$1589
42 km or 26 mi	Benavente	$1383
47 km or 29 mi	Azambuja	$1370
47 km or 29 mi	Salvaterra de Magos	$1385
58 km or 36 mi	Cartaxo	$1357
61 km or 38 mi	Lourinha	$1498
71 km or 44 mi	Santarem	$1305
72 km or 45 mi	Almeirim	$1316
73 km or 45 mi	Peniche	$1681
77 km or 48 mi	Caldas da Rainha	$1289
90 km or 56 mi	Santiago do Cacem	$1410
94 km or 58 mi	Alcobaca	$1333
101 km or 63 mi	Torres Novas	$1221
103 km or 64 mi	Porto de Mos	$1304
111 km or 69 mi	Evora	$1350
115 km or 72 mi	Ourem	$1214
117 km or 72 mi	Marinha Grande	$1297
118 km or 73 mi	Tomar	$1006
118 km or 73 mi	Abrantes	$1231