Lilongwe vs Windhoek - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Lilongwe	Windhoek
🚶 Cost of living one person	$592	$985
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1419	$2264
🏠 One person rent	$250	$515
🏘️ Family rent	$390	$857
🍽️ Food expenses	$241	$319
🚐 Transport expenses	$51.8	$64.2
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$105	$700
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	22 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	12	29
😀 Quality of life	25	57
🏙️ Population	989K	431K

The cost of living in Lilongwe is 40% less expensive than in Windhoek. Cities ranked 7884th and 5698th ($592 vs $985) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in Malawi and Namibia, respectively. Check Malawi vs Namibia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Lilongwe compared to 0.7 months in Windhoek. Lilongwe ranked 7th best city to live in Malawi vs Windhoek ranked 1st in Namibia, while ranked 8966th and 6153rd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Lilongwe vs Windhoek infographic

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Prices in Lilongwe vs Windhoek

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

	Lilongwe	Windhoek
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$4.27	$10.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$24.6	$40.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.09	$5.18
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.55	$1.89
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$2.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.43	$1.07
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$374	$479
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$114	$357
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$603	$846
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$207	$633
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$34.2	$83.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$53.6	$130
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.6	$50.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.87%	11.88%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$10587	$1315
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$593	$718
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.92	$0.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$11.6	$46.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$5.7	$7.78
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.34	$1.26
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.07	$0.86
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.86
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.27	$2.85
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$6.57
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$5.17
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.01	$6.97
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$1.84
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.5	$1.68
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.34	$2.04
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.77
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.24	$1.46
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.73
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.35
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12	$6.35
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.92	$1.41
🚬 Cigarette pack	$1.57	$2.94
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.12	$8.09
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.05	$2.63
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.75	$2.7
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$1.48
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$29.1	$39.6
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.17	$5.23
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$17	$32
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.59	$8
👖 Brand Jeans	$23	$54.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$49.5	$93.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$353	$225
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2356	$5380

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 Windhoek

Distance	City	Cost of living
83 km or 52 mi	Rehoboth	$904
173 km or 108 mi	Omaruru	$924
194 km or 120 mi	Gobabis	$927
238 km or 148 mi	Otjiwarongo	$836
246 km or 153 mi	Mariental	$948
262 km or 163 mi	Swakopmund	$834
268 km or 166 mi	Walvis Bay	$857
375 km or 233 mi	Tsumeb	$819
589 km or 366 mi	Oshikango	$807
776 km or 482 mi	Upington	$746
882 km or 548 mi	Molepolole	$607
883 km or 548 mi	Kanye	$637
921 km or 572 mi	Lobatse	$637
928 km or 577 mi	Gaborone	$668
940 km or 584 mi	Mmabatho	$833
990 km or 615 mi	Serowe	$536
999 km or 621 mi	Mahalapye	$577
1030 km or 640 mi	Kimberley	$861
1032 km or 641 mi	Palapye	$514
1056 km or 656 mi	Livingstone	$653
1079 km or 670 mi	Klerksdorp	$762
1086 km or 675 mi	Rustenburg	$940
1087 km or 675 mi	Francistown	$587
1099 km or 683 mi	Huambo	$606
1112 km or 691 mi	Potchefstroom	$731
1136 km or 706 mi	Brits	$875
1140 km or 708 mi	Welkom	$762
1166 km or 724 mi	Soweto	$984
1167 km or 725 mi	Bloemfontein	$698
1167 km or 725 mi	Kroonstad	$808
1173 km or 729 mi	Randburg	$890
1178 km or 732 mi	Sandton	$984
1179 km or 733 mi	Vanderbijlpark	$799
1180 km or 733 mi	Benguela	$719
1180 km or 733 mi	Pretoria	$975
1180 km or 734 mi	Johannesburg	$1082
1184 km or 735 mi	Centurion	$892
1187 km or 738 mi	Vereeniging	$706
1196 km or 743 mi	Lobito	$684
1207 km or 750 mi	Benoni	$826