Lilongwe vs Port Louis - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Port Louis
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$812
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$1973
🏠 One person rent	$251	$360
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$637
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$305
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$57
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$508
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	35 km
🎓 Higher education	13	27
😀 Quality of life	20	62
🏙️ Population	989K	149K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 28% less expensive than in Port Louis. Cities ranked 7807th and 6387th ($587 vs $812) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and Mauritius, respectively. Check Malawi vs Mauritius comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.6 months in Port Louis. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Port Louis ranked 1st in Mauritius, while ranked 8847th and 4802nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Port Louis infographic

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

Prices in Lilongwe vs Port Louis

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

	Lilongwe	Port Louis
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$5.37
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$39.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$6.13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$2.75
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$2.61
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$0.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$394
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$272
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$609
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$542
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$33.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$51.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$30.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	5.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$1157
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$1131
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$1
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$27.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$22.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.47
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.48
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$0.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$1.08
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$1.96
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$6.28
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$10.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$2.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$2.18
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$1.52
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.58
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.06
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.48
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.6
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$9.38
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$1.62
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$6.11
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$6.75
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$5.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.87
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.51
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$27.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$5.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$22.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$8.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$65.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$152
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$3884

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 Port Louis

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.9 km or 6.2 mi	Quatre Bornes	$671
14 km or 8.5 mi	Bambous	$745
14 km or 8.7 mi	Triolet	$808
17 km or 10 mi	Curepipe	$712
21 km or 13 mi	Goodlands	$796
23 km or 14 mi	Centre de Flacq	$667
33 km or 21 mi	Mahebourg	$785
210 km or 130 mi	Saint-Benoit	$1379
212 km or 132 mi	Saint-Andre	$1368
214 km or 133 mi	Sainte-Suzanne	$1358
228 km or 142 mi	Saint-Denis	$1322
237 km or 148 mi	Saint-Joseph	$1296
241 km or 149 mi	Le Tampon	$1396
241 km or 150 mi	La Possession	$1371
246 km or 153 mi	Le Port	$1400
248 km or 154 mi	Saint-Pierre	$1397
250 km or 156 mi	Saint-Paul	$1459
256 km or 159 mi	Saint-Leu	$1575
880 km or 546 mi	Toamasina	$447
1054 km or 655 mi	Antananarivo	$507
1094 km or 680 mi	Antsirabe	$352
1471 km or 914 mi	Toliara	$389
1543 km or 959 mi	Mamoudzou	$1465
1639 km or 1018 mi	Domoni	$1100
1742 km or 1083 mi	Victoria	$1495
1789 km or 1111 mi	Moroni	$1105
1895 km or 1178 mi	Nacala	$1150
1974 km or 1227 mi	Pemba	$1506
2011 km or 1249 mi	Nampula	$872
2180 km or 1355 mi	Quelimane	$675
2365 km or 1470 mi	Beira	$1003
2368 km or 1472 mi	Mulanje	$461
2404 km or 1494 mi	Zomba	$457
2426 km or 1508 mi	Blantyre	$507
2441 km or 1517 mi	Mangochi	$493
2463 km or 1530 mi	Dar es Salaam	$811
2490 km or 1548 mi	Ntcheu	$492
2491 km or 1548 mi	Monkey Bay	$518
2504 km or 1556 mi	Xai-Xai	$1003
2515 km or 1563 mi	Zanzibar	$552