Lilongwe vs Victoria - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Lilongwe	Victoria
🚶 Cost of living one person	$591	$1646
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1409	$3641
🏠 One person rent	$250	$932
🏘️ Family rent	$382	$1570
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$528
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.6	$58.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$121	$912
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	14	8
😀 Quality of life	30	48
🏙️ Population	989K	24.7K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 64% less expensive than in Victoria. Cities ranked 8027th and 3471st ($591 vs $1646) 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 0.6 months in Victoria. Lilongwe ranked 3rd best city to live in Malawi vs Victoria ranked 1st in the Seychelles, while ranked 8837th and 6854th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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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	$4.25	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.2	$50.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.08	$12.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.54	$4.52
☕ Cappuccino	$2.31	$5.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$2.4
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$373	$927
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$112	$696
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$601	$1660
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$198	$1259
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.7	$74
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$52.7	$115
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.7	$116
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.71%	12.48%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9004	$464
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$506	$1188
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.91	$0.83
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.5	$27.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.64	$26.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.59
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.05	$2.05
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.09	$1.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$2.53
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.28	$4.31
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$6.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.98	$12.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$2.4
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$3.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.45
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$6.31
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$1.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.87
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.9
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.15	$3.79
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.2	$10.7
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.9	$4.03
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.74	$19.2
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.1	$9.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.11	$7.95
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$2.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$1.87
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$28.9	$84.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.53	$7.74
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17.1	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.64	$10.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$22.9	$68.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$48.6	$97.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$349	$150
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2330	$8971

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	$521
134 km or 83 mi	Ntcheu	$495
169 km or 105 mi	Mangochi	$496
228 km or 142 mi	Zomba	$458
233 km or 145 mi	Mzimba	$530
240 km or 149 mi	Blantyre	$505
243 km or 151 mi	Tete	$828
283 km or 176 mi	Mzuzu	$527
293 km or 182 mi	Mulanje	$461
506 km or 314 mi	Kasama	$1002
518 km or 322 mi	Harare	$1024
524 km or 326 mi	Marondera	$768
533 km or 331 mi	Chitungwiza	$770
536 km or 333 mi	Chinhoyi	$639
545 km or 339 mi	Quelimane	$692
550 km or 342 mi	Kapiri Mposhi	$815
566 km or 352 mi	Mbeya	$469
567 km or 353 mi	Mutare	$764
568 km or 353 mi	Ndola	$613
572 km or 355 mi	Chimoio	$924
603 km or 375 mi	Nampula	$935
613 km or 381 mi	Lusaka	$686
616 km or 383 mi	Mansa	$1030
616 km or 383 mi	Kitwe	$1189
618 km or 384 mi	Mufulira	$1473
637 km or 396 mi	Kadoma	$754
660 km or 410 mi	Chingola	$1229
660 km or 410 mi	Beira	$1000
682 km or 424 mi	Kwekwe	$706
732 km or 455 mi	Lubumbashi	$1133
740 km or 460 mi	Pemba	$1521
741 km or 460 mi	Gweru	$577
744 km or 462 mi	Nacala	$1181
746 km or 464 mi	Masvingo	$861
795 km or 494 mi	Choma	$750
835 km or 519 mi	Likasi	$1039
883 km or 549 mi	Bulawayo	$630
886 km or 551 mi	Dodoma	$506
902 km or 560 mi	Morogoro	$408
949 km or 590 mi	Livingstone	$718

Cities near Victoria

Distance	City	Cost of living
1346 km or 836 mi	Mogadishu	$724
1443 km or 897 mi	Mamoudzou	$1652
1470 km or 914 mi	Domoni	$1237
1556 km or 967 mi	Moroni	$1233
1569 km or 975 mi	Baidoa	$743
1642 km or 1020 mi	Toamasina	$481
1709 km or 1062 mi	Malindi	$553
1730 km or 1075 mi	Goodlands	$807
1730 km or 1075 mi	Triolet	$815
1742 km or 1083 mi	Port Louis	$812
1749 km or 1087 mi	Centre de Flacq	$672
1751 km or 1088 mi	Quatre Bornes	$697
1752 km or 1088 mi	Bambous	$749
1752 km or 1088 mi	Mombasa	$604
1759 km or 1093 mi	Curepipe	$819
1771 km or 1100 mi	Mahebourg	$796
1805 km or 1122 mi	Dar es Salaam	$763
1807 km or 1123 mi	Zanzibar	$588
1808 km or 1123 mi	Saint-Denis	$1562
1808 km or 1123 mi	Stone Town	$551
1810 km or 1124 mi	Antananarivo	$564
1811 km or 1125 mi	Sainte-Suzanne	$1588
1813 km or 1126 mi	Tanga	$544
1813 km or 1126 mi	La Possession	$1600
1814 km or 1127 mi	Le Port	$1624
1817 km or 1129 mi	Saint-Andre	$1597
1822 km or 1132 mi	Saint-Paul	$1681
1825 km or 1134 mi	Saint-Benoit	$1602
1840 km or 1143 mi	Saint-Leu	$1795
1852 km or 1151 mi	Le Tampon	$1618
1859 km or 1155 mi	Saint-Pierre	$1640
1863 km or 1158 mi	Saint-Joseph	$1468
1881 km or 1169 mi	Pemba	$1521
1925 km or 1196 mi	Antsirabe	$496
1953 km or 1214 mi	Nacala	$1181
1983 km or 1232 mi	Morogoro	$408
2014 km or 1252 mi	Moshi	$523
2021 km or 1256 mi	Hargeisa	$712
2045 km or 1271 mi	Meru	$542
2049 km or 1273 mi	Machakos	$419