Lilongwe vs Victoria - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lilongwe	Victoria
🚶 Cost of living one person	$592	$1585
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1419	$3464
🏠 One person rent	$250	$924
🏘️ Family rent	$390	$1552
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$493
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$51.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$105	$832
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	12	8
😀 Quality of life	25	63
🏙️ Population	989K	24.7K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 63% less expensive than in Victoria. Cities ranked 7884th and 3601st ($592 vs $1585) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and the Seychelles, respectively. Check Malawi vs the Seychelles comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.5 months in Victoria. Lilongwe ranked 7th best city to live in Malawi vs Victoria ranked 1st in the Seychelles, while ranked 8966th and 5581st 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 Victoria infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Victoria

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

	Lilongwe	Victoria
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$15.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$43.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.09	$11.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$3.9
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$4.62
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$2.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$374	$818
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$676
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$603	$1449
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$1250
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$82.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$126
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.6	$137
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.87%	14.86%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10587	$447
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$593	$1146
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$0.74
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$24.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$22.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.8
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.07	$1.63
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$2.45
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$3.81
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$5.86
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.01	$11.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.09
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2.87
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$2.25
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$5.9
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.82
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.71
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.83
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$3.54
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12	$9.37
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$3.62
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$22.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.12	$9.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$6.94
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$2.04
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$1.75
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.1	$92.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$6.71
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$64.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.59	$9.62
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$59.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.5	$84.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$353	$153
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2356	$8213

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	$519
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$493
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$565
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$506
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$820
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$888
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1021
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$779
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$751
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$650
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$748
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$495
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$755
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$577
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$916
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$655
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$912
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1062
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1278
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$761
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1069
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$996
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$716
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1124
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1511
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$587
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1168
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$873
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$687
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1032
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$658
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$526
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$421
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$653

Cities near Victoria

Distance	City	Cost of living
1346 km or 836 mi	Mogadishu	$715
1443 km or 897 mi	Mamoudzou	$1624
1470 km or 914 mi	Domoni	$1207
1556 km or 967 mi	Moroni	$1207
1569 km or 975 mi	Baidoa	$724
1642 km or 1020 mi	Toamasina	$476
1709 km or 1062 mi	Malindi	$548
1730 km or 1075 mi	Goodlands	$822
1730 km or 1075 mi	Triolet	$834
1742 km or 1083 mi	Port Louis	$831
1749 km or 1087 mi	Centre de Flacq	$692
1751 km or 1088 mi	Quatre Bornes	$727
1752 km or 1088 mi	Bambous	$774
1752 km or 1088 mi	Mombasa	$596
1759 km or 1093 mi	Curepipe	$842
1771 km or 1100 mi	Mahebourg	$812
1805 km or 1122 mi	Dar es Salaam	$799
1807 km or 1123 mi	Zanzibar	$609
1808 km or 1123 mi	Saint-Denis	$1535
1808 km or 1123 mi	Stone Town	$567
1810 km or 1124 mi	Antananarivo	$564
1811 km or 1125 mi	Sainte-Suzanne	$1546
1813 km or 1126 mi	Tanga	$552
1813 km or 1126 mi	La Possession	$1561
1814 km or 1127 mi	Le Port	$1590
1817 km or 1129 mi	Saint-Andre	$1560
1822 km or 1132 mi	Saint-Paul	$1641
1825 km or 1134 mi	Saint-Benoit	$1561
1840 km or 1143 mi	Saint-Leu	$1751
1852 km or 1151 mi	Le Tampon	$1576
1859 km or 1155 mi	Saint-Pierre	$1595
1863 km or 1158 mi	Saint-Joseph	$1445
1881 km or 1169 mi	Pemba	$1511
1925 km or 1196 mi	Antsirabe	$493
1953 km or 1214 mi	Nacala	$1168
1983 km or 1232 mi	Morogoro	$421
2014 km or 1252 mi	Moshi	$533
2021 km or 1256 mi	Hargeisa	$694
2045 km or 1271 mi	Meru	$549
2049 km or 1273 mi	Machakos	$420