Cost of living comparison

Botswana

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Botswana Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 1.6% more expensive than Botswana overall.

Restaurants: pay 44.6% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 20.8% more in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 24.8% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 2.6% more in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.4% more in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 24.2% more in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Botswana Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Botswana, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 44.6% less for restaurants

	Botswana	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.85 BWP148.87	$3.42 MYR13.98	-68.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.79 BWP79.40	$4.64 MYR18.95	-19.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.72 BWP9.92	$0.75 MYR3.07	+3.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.42 BWP5.71	$0.42 MYR1.72	+1.4%
Average			-44.6%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.8% more for groceries

	Botswana	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$0.88 BWP12.02	$1.10 MYR4.49	+25.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.16 BWP43.42	$6.94 MYR28.32	+119.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.47 BWP75.12	$7.18 MYR29.31	+31.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.47 BWP33.83	$2.09 MYR8.53	-15.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.11 BWP28.88	$1.90 MYR7.75	-9.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 BWP10.31	$1.35 MYR5.53	+80.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.64 BWP8.75	$0.73 MYR2.97	+14.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 BWP12.38	$1.19 MYR4.84	+31.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.74 BWP10.15	$0.69 MYR2.83	-6.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 BWP7.97	$0.57 MYR2.34	-1.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 BWP7.25	$0.61 MYR2.50	+15.6%
Average			+20.8%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.8% less for transportation

	Botswana	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.15 BWP70.71	$2.76 MYR11.29	-46.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$29.66 BWP406.91	$15.28 MYR62.39	-48.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,891.73 BWP273K	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+105.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.87 BWP286.32	$6.46 MYR26.37	-69.0%
Average			-24.8%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.6% more for housing

	Botswana	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.10 BWP577.61	$27.60 MYR112.71	-34.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	+2.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	+19.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$45.63 BWP626.12	$36.69 MYR149.79	-19.6%
Average			+2.6%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Botswana	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	$231.07 MYR943.51	+81.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	+221.7%
Average			+141.8%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Botswana	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.99 BWP27.29	$3.61 MYR14.73	+81.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.32 BWP31.83	$2.76 MYR11.29	+19.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.62 BWP49.62	$4.35 MYR17.74	+20.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.58 BWP460.78	$38.82 MYR158.52	+15.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.15 BWP84.36	$4.73 MYR19.31	-23.1%
Average			+15.4%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 24.2% more for clothing

	Botswana	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$47.53 BWP652.19	$58.43 MYR238.60	+22.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.75 BWP229.75	$30.42 MYR124.22	+81.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.33 BWP992.46	$77.72 MYR317.35	+7.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	$77.79 MYR317.65	-0.7%
Average			+24.2%

Botswana vs. Malaysia - 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: Botswana vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Be 84.6% less likely to be unemployed in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Botswana is about 1.8 times bigger than Malaysia.

Moving from Botswana to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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