Lilongwe vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Lilongwe	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$582	$1295
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1336	$3008
🏠 One person rent	$260	$809
🏘️ Family rent	$352	$1621
🍽️ Food expenses	$216	$347
🚐 Transport expenses	$57.3	$40.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$278	$1018
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	13	7
😀 Quality of life	20	61
🏙️ Population	989K	133K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 55% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 7990th and 4342nd ($582 vs $1295) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Malawi and Maldives, respectively. Check Malawi vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.8 months in Male. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 8861st and 5145th 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 Male infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Male

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

	Lilongwe	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.23	$5.57
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.7	$29.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.86	$9.83
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$3.95
☕ Cappuccino	$2.43	$2.87
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.92	$1.11
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$375	$851
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$113	$582
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$363	$1573
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$202	$1368
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$74
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.5	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.9	$98.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.6%	13.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10490	$2675
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$589	$1944
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$0.55
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$22.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.99	$17.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$0.96
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.77
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$1.51
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$1.14
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.56	$1.64
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$9.02
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$5.53
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$8.66
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$4.17
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$3.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$3.88
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$3.48
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$1.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.29	$0.3
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.98
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$8.81
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$2.15
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.59	$7.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.13	$5.38
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$3.82
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$1.84
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.7	$80.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.11	$8.27
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$22.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.63	$4.33
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$56.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.3	$110
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$350	$170
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2358	$3225

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	$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

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1515
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$370
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$331
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$289
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$250
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$280
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$316
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$394
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$368
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$306
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$549
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$636
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$298
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$492
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$484
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$437
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$428
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$499
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$287
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$355
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$350
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$334
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$340
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$435
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$304
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$561
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$306
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$338
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$324
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$289
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$325
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$330
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$433
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$534
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$298
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$578
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$310
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$378
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$346
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$352