Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Costa Rica Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 29.0% cheaper than Costa Rica overall.

Restaurants: pay 44.0% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 33.4% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 14.1% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 15.9% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 58.0% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.1% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 29.5% less in Malawi

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, clothing, and transportation are lower in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Costa Rica Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Costa Rica, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 44.0% less for restaurants

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.77 CRC4,857.39	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	-49.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.53 CRC4,739.57	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	+0.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CRC995.21	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	-56.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.57 CRC781.41	$0.45 MWK786.60	-71.1%
Average			-44.0%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 33.4% less for groceries

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.54 CRC1,262.79	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	-50.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.50 CRC2,237.94	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	+7.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.52 CRC3,740.34	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	-50.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.80 CRC1,389.74	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	-22.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.83 CRC1,902.77	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	-47.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.78 CRC886.81	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	-39.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 CRC305.74	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	+32.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 CRC819.01	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	-45.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.24 CRC617.46	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	-52.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.28 CRC635.24	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	-52.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.10 CRC547.12	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	-46.8%
Average			-33.4%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.1% less for transportation

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.47 CRC2,719.23	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	+10.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$54.59 CRC27,137.81	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	-92.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,444.91 CRC18,117,972.89	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	-3.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.68 CRC7,794.48	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	+28.5%
Average			-14.1%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.9% more for housing

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.17 CRC24,446.08	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	+274.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$805.28 CRC400,329.95	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	-75.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$555.89 CRC276,349.98	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	-85.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$63.57 CRC31,602.67	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	-50.0%
Average			+15.9%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 58.0% less for childcare

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$517.09 CRC257,060.35	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	-31.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,552.94 CRC4,749,083.93	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	-84.6%
Average			-58.0%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.59 CRC1,285.81	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	-42.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.84 CRC1,908.38	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	-25.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.70 CRC2,336.25	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	-57.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.68 CRC29,171.56	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	-17.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.11 CRC4,527.37	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	-56.6%
Average			-40.1%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.5% less for clothing

	Costa Rica	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.22 CRC28,941.22	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	-23.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.70 CRC22,222.99	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	-22.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.79 CRC56,072.28	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	-48.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$93.41 CRC46,435.67	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	-24.6%
Average			-29.5%

Costa Rica vs. Malawi - Cost of clothing

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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

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