Lilongwe vs Sao Tome - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Lilongwe	Sao Tome
🚶 Cost of living one person	$582	$878
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1336	$2258
🏠 One person rent	$260	$282
🏘️ Family rent	$352	$610
🍽️ Food expenses	$216	$469
🚐 Transport expenses	$57.3	$37.5
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$278	$267
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	13	1
😀 Quality of life	20	22
🏙️ Population	989K	65.5K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 34% less expensive than in Sao Tome. Cities ranked 7990th and 6193rd ($582 vs $878) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 2nd in Malawi and Sao Tome and Principe, respectively. Check Malawi vs Sao Tome and Principe comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.3 months in Sao Tome. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Sao Tome ranked 1st in Sao Tome and Principe, while ranked 8861st and 8799th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Sao Tome infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Sao Tome

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

	Lilongwe	Sao Tome
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$3.23	$19.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$25.7	$33.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$3.86	$9.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.93	$1.1
☕ Cappuccino	$2.43	$1.65
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.92	$1.79
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$375	$296
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$113	$195
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$363	$628
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$202	$496
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$44.9	$39.6
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$68.5	$61
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.9	$26.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.6%	7.39%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10490	$1459
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$589	$231
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$1.34
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$48
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.99	$6.88
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.4	$1.54
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.22	$1.29
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$0.98
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.19	$2.17
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.56	$3.99
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$19
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$14.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.01	$24.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$3.32
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$3.81
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.13	$3.31
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.57	$2.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.92
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.29	$0.56
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$1.26
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$6.54
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.95	$1.24
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.59	$2.19
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.13	$3.85
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$3.03
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$1.56
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$1.29
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$33.7	$35.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.11	$19.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.2	$17.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.63	$4.34
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$31.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.3	$66.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$350	$120
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2358	$3719

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 Sao Tome

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.3 km or 5.1 mi	Trindade	$879
256 km or 159 mi	Port-Gentil	$659
303 km or 188 mi	Libreville	$702
375 km or 233 mi	Bata	$1201
443 km or 275 mi	Malabo	$812
492 km or 306 mi	Port Harcourt	$651
494 km or 307 mi	Limbe	$710
509 km or 316 mi	Buea	$655
529 km or 328 mi	Douala	$1368
537 km or 333 mi	Aba	$638
543 km or 337 mi	Calabar	$374
565 km or 351 mi	Kumba	$933
574 km or 356 mi	Owerri	$1686
584 km or 363 mi	Umuahia	$906
587 km or 365 mi	Warri	$886
649 km or 403 mi	Onitsha	$1036
653 km or 406 mi	Awka	$846
660 km or 410 mi	Yaounde	$764
677 km or 421 mi	Benin	$537
684 km or 425 mi	Enugu	$469
702 km or 436 mi	Bafoussam	$794
730 km or 454 mi	Bamenda	$714
772 km or 480 mi	Owo	$658
774 km or 481 mi	Lagos	$1133
788 km or 490 mi	Akure	$635
806 km or 501 mi	Pointe-Noire	$578
822 km or 511 mi	Porto-Novo	$710
824 km or 512 mi	Cotonou	$755
827 km or 514 mi	Ado Ekiti	$681
829 km or 515 mi	Ife	$774
845 km or 525 mi	Ibadan	$759
846 km or 526 mi	Abeokuta	$1019
861 km or 535 mi	Osogbo	$704
884 km or 549 mi	Kayes	$531
889 km or 552 mi	Lome	$711
890 km or 553 mi	Oyo	$699
892 km or 555 mi	Cabinda	$686
907 km or 564 mi	Madingou	$531
924 km or 574 mi	Gamboma	$531
926 km or 575 mi	Abomey	$617