Cost of living comparison

Bhutan

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Bhutan Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 64.8% more expensive than Bhutan overall.

Restaurants: pay 86.9% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 56.9% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 55.8% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 74.9% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 2.9 times more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.0% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 50.1% more in Malawi

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Malawi are more expensive than in Bhutan. Notably, childcare and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

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Malawi vs. Bhutan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 86.9% more for restaurants

	Bhutan	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.58 BTN245.70	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+74.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.91 BTN466.83	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+74.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 BTN47.50	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	+112.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.18 BTN17.20	$0.52 MWK902.91	+187.3%
Average			+86.9%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.9% more for groceries

	Bhutan	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.07 BTN101.96	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+47.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 BTN178.54	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	+157.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.03 BTN288.32	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	+42.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.88 BTN178.87	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+22.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.79 BTN170.51	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	+37.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.15 BTN109.22	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-5.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.69 BTN65.75	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+17.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.73 BTN69.10	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	+23.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 BTN31.76	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+127.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 BTN24.52	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+194.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.31 BTN29.53	$0.53 MWK920.74	+70.6%
Average			+56.9%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 55.8% more for transportation

	Bhutan	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.79 BTN264.82	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+113.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.17 BTN491.40	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-16.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,591.53 BTN2M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+112.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.18 BTN1,253.06	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	-3.3%
Average			+55.8%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.9% more for housing

	Bhutan	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	$61.21 MWK106K	+153.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	$384.08 MWK667K	+202.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	$99.97 MWK174K	+16.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	+6.7%
Average			+74.9%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.9 times more for childcare

	Bhutan	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	$370.40 MWK643K	+723.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$568.68 BTN54,053.67	$593.71 MWK1M	+4.4%
Average			+193.2%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Bhutan	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.58 BTN245.70	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-36.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.28 BTN121.21	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+132.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.88 BTN368.55	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	-38.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	-3.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.10 BTN294.84	??
Average			+3.0%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.1% more for clothing

	Bhutan	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.97 BTN4,750.10	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	-13.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.99 BTN2,375.05	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	+59.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.21 BTN6,388.16	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-27.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$13.96 BTN1,326.77	$70.38 MWK122K	+404.2%
Average			+50.1%

Bhutan vs. Malawi - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Bhutan vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 3.8 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Bhutan is about 3.1 times smaller than Malawi.

Moving from Bhutan to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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