Cost of living comparison

compared to

Lilongwe vs. Cairo Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 57.9% more expensive than Cairo.

Restaurants
pay 60.9% more in Lilongwe
Groceries
pay 2.3 times more in Lilongwe
Transportation
pay 58.3% more in Lilongwe
Housing
pay 21.0% more in Lilongwe
Childcare
pay 2.8 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports
pay 35.0% more in Lilongwe

The cost of childcare, groceries, restaurants, transportation, entertainment and sports, and housing in Lilongwe are more expensive than in Cairo. Notably, childcare and groceries are significantly more expensive in Lilongwe.

Lilongwe vs. Cairo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Cairo, you would:

pay 60.9% more for restaurants

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.77
EGP255.20
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.92
EGP316.45
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.35
EGP18.91
$1.26
MWK2,182.36

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Bread
1 loaf
$0.76
EGP40.74
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
Local cheese (8 oz) $2.13
EGP114.06
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
Milk (1 gallon) $3.57
EGP190.86
$4.73
MWK8,212.45

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pay 58.3% more for transportation

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon) $1.68
EGP89.66
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
Monthly public transit pass $8.59
EGP459.36
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $32,276.12
EGP2M
??

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pay 21.0% more for housing

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$14.10
EGP753.78
$61.21
MWK106K
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $216.90
EGP11,593.41
$540.71
MWK939K
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $191.78
EGP10,250.57
$85.13
MWK148K

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pay 2.8 times more for childcare

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $123.08
EGP6,578.51
$350.00
MWK608K
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $3,562.03
EGP190K
??

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pay 35.0% more for entertainment and sports

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.48
EGP79.11
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.78
EGP95.02
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.01
EGP107.18
$2.43
MWK4,223.25

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Cairo
Lilongwe
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$40.94
EGP2,188.35
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$50.61
EGP2,705.13
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$115.71
EGP6,184.87
??

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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

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