Lilongwe vs Lubumbashi - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Lubumbashi
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$1050
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$3163
🏠 One person rent	$251	$489
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$1593
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$329
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$158
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$1100
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	13	14
😀 Quality of life	20	17
🏙️ Population	989K	1.79M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 44% less expensive than in Lubumbashi. Cities ranked 7807th and 5160th ($587 vs $1050) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Malawi and the DR Congo, respectively. Check Malawi vs the DR Congo comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1 months in Lubumbashi. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Lubumbashi ranked 2nd in the DR Congo, while ranked 8847th and 8961st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Lubumbashi infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Lubumbashi

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

	Lilongwe	Lubumbashi
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$11.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$38.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$4.26
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.31
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$3.34
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$1.23
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$694
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$227
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$2119
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$1165
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$130
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$38.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	12.13%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$6963
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$495
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$62.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$15.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.24
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.64
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.92
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.52
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$2.25
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$8.95
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.39
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$13.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.72
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$2.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.01
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$0.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$9.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.11
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$3.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$3.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$2.52
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.59
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$0.79
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$69.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$8.08
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$30.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$3.53
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$20.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$63.9
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$101
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$5003

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	$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

Cities near Lubumbashi

Distance	City	Cost of living
107 km or 67 mi	Chingola	$875
110 km or 68 mi	Likasi	$961
131 km or 82 mi	Mufulira	$1018
152 km or 94 mi	Kitwe	$917
165 km or 102 mi	Mansa	$776
193 km or 120 mi	Ndola	$541
242 km or 150 mi	Kolwezi	$975
289 km or 180 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$687
426 km or 265 mi	Lusaka	$738
437 km or 272 mi	Kasama	$748
575 km or 357 mi	Choma	$700
668 km or 415 mi	Kalemie	$747
668 km or 415 mi	Gandajika	$828
668 km or 415 mi	Mzimba	$566
680 km or 423 mi	Mwene-Ditu	$843
697 km or 433 mi	Chinhoyi	$646
708 km or 440 mi	Livingstone	$688
717 km or 445 mi	Mzuzu	$525
724 km or 450 mi	Mbeya	$461
732 km or 455 mi	Lilongwe	$587
749 km or 465 mi	Mbuji-Mayi	$1011
786 km or 489 mi	Harare	$992
788 km or 490 mi	Kadoma	$723
802 km or 498 mi	Chitungwiza	$873
822 km or 510 mi	Luena	$634
829 km or 515 mi	Tete	$825
845 km or 525 mi	Kananga	$976
847 km or 526 mi	Marondera	$794
850 km or 528 mi	Kwekwe	$730
851 km or 529 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
856 km or 532 mi	Ntcheu	$492
877 km or 545 mi	Makamba	$647
901 km or 560 mi	Mangochi	$493
902 km or 561 mi	Gweru	$597
906 km or 563 mi	Rutana	$648
935 km or 581 mi	Blantyre	$507
936 km or 581 mi	Tshikapa	$934
937 km or 583 mi	Uvira	$803
945 km or 587 mi	Bujumbura	$719
946 km or 588 mi	Zomba	$457