Lilongwe vs Mbabane - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Mbabane
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$562
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$1439
🏠 One person rent	$251	$245
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$484
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$202
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$55.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$701
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	27 km
🎓 Higher education	13	16
😀 Quality of life	20	38
🏙️ Population	989K	60.7K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 4% more expensive than in Mbabane. Cities ranked 7807th and 8102nd ($587 vs $562) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and Eswatini, respectively. Check Malawi vs Eswatini comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.2 months in Mbabane. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Mbabane ranked 1st in Eswatini, while ranked 8847th and 7231st among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Mbabane infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Mbabane

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

	Lilongwe	Mbabane
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$2.96
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$27.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$2.22
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$1.78
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.9
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$221
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$159
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$487
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$360
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$45.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$70.6
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$27.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	11.73%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$330
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$245
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$1.09
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$28.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$25.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.14
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.03
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$1.63
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$4.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$1.47
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$0.71
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$0.9
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.33
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.49
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$5.45
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.51
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$4.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$3.07
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.52
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$27.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$3.51
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$17.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$4.52
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$43.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$70.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$104
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$4495

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 Mbabane

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Manzini	$442
136 km or 85 mi	Matola	$964
148 km or 92 mi	Maputo	$1068
165 km or 103 mi	Vryheid	$763
171 km or 106 mi	Bethal	$784
179 km or 111 mi	Middelburg	$795
271 km or 168 mi	Springs	$678
284 km or 176 mi	Benoni	$785
287 km or 178 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
301 km or 187 mi	Centurion	$807
304 km or 189 mi	Pretoria	$906
311 km or 193 mi	Sandton	$953
311 km or 193 mi	Johannesburg	$993
316 km or 196 mi	Randburg	$837
324 km or 201 mi	Vereeniging	$672
329 km or 204 mi	Soweto	$923
334 km or 207 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$773
348 km or 216 mi	Brits	$820
370 km or 230 mi	Pietermaritzburg	$640
394 km or 245 mi	Durban	$809
398 km or 247 mi	Butha-Buthe	$535
399 km or 248 mi	Rustenburg	$889
406 km or 252 mi	Potchefstroom	$695
416 km or 259 mi	Kroonstad	$768
451 km or 280 mi	Klerksdorp	$722
461 km or 287 mi	Teyateyaneng	$500
477 km or 296 mi	Welkom	$748
491 km or 305 mi	Maseru	$621
546 km or 339 mi	Mafeteng	$567
555 km or 345 mi	Mmabatho	$780
559 km or 347 mi	Gaborone	$691
564 km or 350 mi	Lobatse	$665
566 km or 352 mi	Mahalapye	$631
576 km or 358 mi	Bloemfontein	$657
585 km or 363 mi	Palapye	$540
601 km or 374 mi	Kanye	$664
608 km or 378 mi	Molepolole	$628
628 km or 390 mi	Serowe	$583
628 km or 390 mi	Mthatha	$852
682 km or 424 mi	Francistown	$624