Lilongwe vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Lilongwe	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$587	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1406	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$251	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$391	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$236	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.5	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$107	$4188
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	14	99
😀 Quality of life	29	100
🏙️ Population	989K	5.45M

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 79% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 8094th and 370th ($587 vs $2844) 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 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Lilongwe ranked 2nd best city to live in Malawi vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 8818th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$4.43	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.5	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$7.88	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$2.32	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$608	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.3	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.2	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.5	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.88%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7658	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$432	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.93	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.31	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.95	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.98	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.32	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.97	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.29	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.07	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.2	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.88	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.71	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.11	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.1	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.76	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.67	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.9	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.53	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$16.9	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.62	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$23.2	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.4	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$350	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2337	$25164

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	$516
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$489
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$494
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$452
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$559
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$495
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$792
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$522
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$456
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1132
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1015
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$755
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$780
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$629
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$691
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$925
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$463
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$754
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$692
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$875
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$933
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$777
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1166
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1304
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1602
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$727
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1378
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$952
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$677
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1125
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$565
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1167
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$840
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$849
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1029
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$632
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$495
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$417
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$813

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2354
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2040
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1709
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1995
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1701
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1795
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1460
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2258
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1855
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1273
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1825
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1816
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$2000
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2341
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1936
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1915
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1493
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1913
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1825
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1834
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2543
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1933
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1896
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2323
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1813
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1992
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2179
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1606
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1863