Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Beijing Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 48.2% more expensive than Beijing.

Restaurants: pay 61.0% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 8.3% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 96.5% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 3.9 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 72.0% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.4% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 23.5% less in Malawi

The cost of housing, transportation, restaurants, and groceries in Malawi are more expensive than in Beijing. Expenses including childcare, clothing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Malawi. Notably, housing and transportation are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Beijing Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Beijing, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 61.0% more for restaurants

	Beijing	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.21 CN¥29.67	$4.94 MWK8,546.53	+17.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 CN¥34.62	$9.59 MWK16,599.35	+95.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.48 CN¥3.38	$0.88 MWK1,520.92	+83.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 CN¥2.17	$0.45 MWK787.59	+48.2%
Average			+61.0%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 8.3% more for groceries

	Beijing	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.71 CN¥12.04	$1.25 MWK2,170.61	-26.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.47 CN¥52.69	$4.83 MWK8,362.60	-35.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.64 CN¥46.85	$3.70 MWK6,411.01	-44.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.78 CN¥12.53	$2.18 MWK3,776.48	+22.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 CN¥10.80	$2.00 MWK3,458.39	+30.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.98 CN¥6.93	$1.09 MWK1,878.71	+10.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.77 CN¥5.43	$0.81 MWK1,407.41	+5.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.80 CN¥5.65	$0.90 MWK1,552.35	+12.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.60 CN¥4.25	$0.59 MWK1,028.86	-1.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.35 CN¥2.46	$0.61 MWK1,059.32	+75.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.41 CN¥2.91	$0.59 MWK1,013.23	+41.9%
Average			+8.3%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 96.5% more for transportation

	Beijing	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 CN¥29.71	$6.04 MWK10,451.79	+43.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.54 CN¥222.53	$4.32 MWK7,482.57	-86.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$18,225.66 CN¥128,572.93	$35,205.31 MWK60,950,860.76	+93.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.63 CN¥32.64	$20.15 MWK34,889.48	+335.6%
Average			+96.5%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.9 times more for housing

	Beijing	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.93 CN¥91.22	$184.06 MWK318,658.64	+1323.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$935.23 CN¥6,597.60	$201.16 MWK348,275.70	-78.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$504.41 CN¥3,558.33	$79.07 MWK136,888.50	-84.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$39.27 CN¥277.00	$31.77 MWK55,009.78	-19.1%
Average			+285.3%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 72.0% less for childcare

	Beijing	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$710.76 CN¥5,014.09	$354.19 MWK613,206.73	-50.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$23,242.73 CN¥163,965.81	$1,471.60 MWK2,547,772.73	-93.7%
Average			-72.0%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Beijing	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 CN¥7.91	$1.48 MWK2,559.90	+31.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.90 CN¥20.47	$2.85 MWK4,934.84	-1.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.21 CN¥29.67	$1.98 MWK3,429.16	-52.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$57.84 CN¥408.00	$48.41 MWK83,812.70	-16.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.41 CN¥59.34	$3.95 MWK6,839.59	-53.0%
Average			-18.4%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.5% less for clothing

	Beijing	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$62.30 CN¥439.49	$44.72 MWK77,415.69	-28.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.37 CN¥256.59	$34.73 MWK60,134.17	-4.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$81.74 CN¥576.64	$58.69 MWK101,615.11	-28.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$105.53 CN¥744.46	$70.38 MWK121,855.00	-33.3%
Average			-23.5%

Beijing vs. Malawi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

More cost comparisons

Beijing vs.

Delhi

Beijing vs.

Wellington

Beijing vs.

Ottawa

Beijing vs.

Washington

Beijing vs.

Vienna

Beijing vs.

Athens

Beijing vs.

Hong Kong

Beijing vs.

Moscow

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in China vs. Malawi. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within China and Malawi.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Beijing

Add prices for Malawi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Malawi or Beijing. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.