Cost of living comparison

Cameroon

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Cameroon Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 22.5% cheaper than Cameroon overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.4% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 14.3% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 11.5% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 40.8% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 63.6% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.2% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 27.5% less in Malawi

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

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Malawi vs. Cameroon Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.4% more for restaurants

	Cameroon	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.13 FCFA1,827	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+43.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.97 FCFA3,488	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+43.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.47 FCFA858	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	-27.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 FCFA354	$0.52 MWK902.91	-14.3%
Average			+27.4%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% less for groceries

	Cameroon	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 FCFA362	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+154.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.67 FCFA5,647	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	-50.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.73 FCFA6,848	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	-63.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.95 FCFA1,137	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+18.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.23 FCFA1,885	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	-23.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.00 FCFA1,166	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-45.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 FCFA477	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	-0.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.75 FCFA437	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	+19.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 FCFA361	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+23.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.99 FCFA578	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	-23.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.75 FCFA435	$0.53 MWK920.74	-28.9%
Average			-14.3%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 11.5% less for transportation

	Cameroon	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.10 FCFA2,980	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+16.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$17.07 FCFA9,966	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-74.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,027.90 FCFA16M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+30.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.26 FCFA3,073	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+142.2%
Average			-11.5%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.8% less for housing

	Cameroon	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$132.77 FCFA77,514	$61.21 MWK106K	-53.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.62 FCFA205K	$384.08 MWK667K	+9.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$251.12 FCFA147K	$99.97 MWK174K	-60.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$76.92 FCFA44,908	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-64.2%
Average			-40.8%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 63.6% less for childcare

	Cameroon	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$548.40 FCFA320K	$370.40 MWK643K	-32.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,026.87 FCFA2M	$593.71 MWK1M	-80.4%
Average			-63.6%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Cameroon	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.15 FCFA673	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	+42.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.04 FCFA1,193	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+45.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.28 FCFA1,329	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	+5.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.87 FCFA17,441	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+51.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.54 FCFA4,983	??
Average			+40.2%

Cameroon vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.5% less for clothing

	Cameroon	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.64 FCFA25,480	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	-0.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$53.68 FCFA31,338	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	-25.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.03 FCFA58,984	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-51.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$91.18 FCFA53,233	$70.38 MWK122K	-22.8%
Average			-27.5%

Cameroon 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: Cameroon vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 17 statistics

Be 78.3% less likely to have access to electricity in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Cameroon is about 4 times bigger than Malawi.

Moving from Cameroon to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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