Cost of living comparison

Tajikistan

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Dushanbe Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 13.0% cheaper than Dushanbe.

Restaurants: pay 42.7% more in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 41.8% more in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 48.0% less in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 46.5% less in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 4.2 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.0% more in Lilongwe

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

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Lilongwe vs. Dushanbe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 42.7% more for restaurants

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.88 TJS44.99	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	+2.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 TJS49.99	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+89.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 TJS5.57	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	+108.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 TJS3.25	$0.57 MWK984.76	+61.1%
Average			+42.7%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.8% more for groceries

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 TJS5.69	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	+194.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.53 TJS50.99	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+42.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.10 TJS37.85	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	+15.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 TJS16.68	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	+60.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.96 TJS18.07	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	+21.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TJS7.86	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	+37.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.29 TJS11.87	$0.56 MWK979.47	-56.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 TJS11.11	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-43.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 TJS5.22	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	+82.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 TJS2.56	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	+231.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 TJS1.74	$0.45 MWK787.71	+140.8%
Average			+41.8%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.0% less for transportation

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.37 TJS40.37	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	+37.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.50 TJS299.95	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-86.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,250.83 TJS150K	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.68 TJS33.99	??
Average			-48.0%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.5% less for housing

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.18 TJS158.54	$61.21 MWK106K	+256.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$628.00 TJS5,795.70	$540.71 MWK939K	-13.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$352.75 TJS3,255.46	$85.13 MWK148K	-75.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.70 TJS477.10	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	-33.0%
Average			-46.5%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 4.2 times more for childcare

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$83.42 TJS769.87	$350.00 MWK608K	+319.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,679.67 TJS52,416.23	??
Average			+319.6%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 TJS11.00	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	+84.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 TJS16.50	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	+79.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.79 TJS34.99	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	-35.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.50 TJS419.93	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	-32.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.42 TJS49.99	??
Average			+14.0%

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Dushanbe	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.38 TJS224.96	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.65 TJS485.92	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.64 TJS716.55	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.34 TJS519.91	??

Dushanbe vs. Lilongwe - 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

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