Lilongwe vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Lilongwe	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$2539
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1571	$6160
🏠 One person rent	$251	$1496
🏘️ Family rent	$555	$2729
🍽️ Food expenses	$237	$522
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$374
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$275	$4315
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	13	100
😀 Quality of life	20	100
🏙️ Population	989K	4.84M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 77% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 7807th and 745th ($587 vs $2539) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and Australia, respectively. Check Malawi vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.5 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.7 months in Sydney. Lilongwe ranked 4th best city to live in Malawi vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 8847th and 2nd 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 Sydney infographic

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

Prices in Lilongwe vs Sydney

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

	Lilongwe	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$13.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$66
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.14	$9.73
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.37	$7.29
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$3.32
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.93	$2.55
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$1823
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$1225
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$362	$3607
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$474	$2246
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.6	$106
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$165
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$45.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.4%	6.4%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10555	$13272
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$588	$7795
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$3.19
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.7	$133
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.67	$26.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.95	$2.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$2.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.29	$4.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$10.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$8.32
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4	$13
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.36	$3.11
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$2.65
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$3.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$3.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$2.34
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.24
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.87
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$2.41
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.1	$13.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.91	$4.35
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$28.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$6.73
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$5.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$2.66
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$2.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.8	$55.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$58.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.6	$20.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.1	$80.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$108
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$1992
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2351	$17957

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2099
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2252
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1824
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1584
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1416
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1448
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1538
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1616
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1511
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2023
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1702
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1185
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1619
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1601
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1781
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1727
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2239
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2067
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1654
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1643
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1291
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1504
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1645
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1677
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1620
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2194
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1691
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1671
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1669
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2016
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1625
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1748
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1981
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1390
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1683