Lilongwe vs Maputo - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Maputo
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$1068
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$2602
🏠 One person rent	$251	$531
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$1006
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$319
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$131
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$373
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	1 km
🎓 Higher education	13	29
😀 Quality of life	20	41
🏙️ Population	989K	1.13M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 45% less expensive than in Maputo. Cities ranked 7807th and 5045th ($587 vs $1068) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 3rd in Malawi and Mozambique, respectively. Check Malawi vs Mozambique comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.3 months in Maputo. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Maputo ranked 1st in Mozambique, while ranked 8847th and 6875th 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 Maputo infographic

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

Prices in Lilongwe vs Maputo

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

	Lilongwe	Maputo
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$9.78
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$47.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$8.61
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.14
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$2.12
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.8
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$592
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$308
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$1399
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$661
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$56
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$86.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$111
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	24.29%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$3504
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$2016
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$13.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$26.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.34
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$1.13
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.61
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$2.39
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$15.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$5.46
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$6.58
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$2.07
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$0.9
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.51
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$0.96
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$0.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$0.95
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$12.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$0.93
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.83
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$4.64
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.88
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.87
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$39
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$7.76
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$36.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$7.24
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$43.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$80.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$155
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$5643

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

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 Maputo

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.7 mi	Matola	$964
136 km or 85 mi	Manzini	$442
144 km or 90 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
148 km or 92 mi	Mbabane	$562
272 km or 169 mi	Vryheid	$763
310 km or 193 mi	Middelburg	$795
318 km or 197 mi	Bethal	$784
415 km or 258 mi	Springs	$678
426 km or 265 mi	Benoni	$785
439 km or 273 mi	Centurion	$807
440 km or 273 mi	Pretoria	$906
453 km or 281 mi	Sandton	$953
454 km or 282 mi	Johannesburg	$993
457 km or 284 mi	Randburg	$837
460 km or 286 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
464 km or 288 mi	Durban	$809
471 km or 292 mi	Vereeniging	$672
472 km or 293 mi	Soweto	$923
480 km or 299 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
483 km or 300 mi	Brits	$820
534 km or 332 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
536 km or 333 mi	Rustenburg	$889
553 km or 343 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
564 km or 351 mi	Kroonstad	$768
598 km or 371 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
598 km or 372 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
624 km or 388 mi	Welkom	$748
628 km or 390 mi	Maseru	$621
661 km or 411 mi	Mahalapye	$631
667 km or 414 mi	Palapye	$540
674 km or 419 mi	Masvingo	$854
680 km or 422 mi	Mafeteng	$567
685 km or 425 mi	Gaborone	$691
695 km or 432 mi	Mmabatho	$780
697 km or 433 mi	Lobatse	$665
712 km or 443 mi	Serowe	$583
715 km or 444 mi	Beira	$1003
720 km or 447 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
730 km or 453 mi	Mthatha	$852
732 km or 455 mi	Molepolole	$628