Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 34.3% cheaper than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 20.0% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 26.3% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 19.7% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 67.3% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 76.9% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.0% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 21.0% less in Malawi

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

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Malawi vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.0% more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+12.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+31.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	+75.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.52 MWK902.91	-20.9%
Average			+20.0%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 26.3% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+32.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	+30.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	+5.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+30.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	-46.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-55.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+172.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	-9.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+146.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+245.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.53 MWK920.74	+8.7%
Average			+26.3%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.7% less for transportation

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+68.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-79.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	-36.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+261.6%
Average			-19.7%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.3% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$61.21 MWK106K	-71.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$384.08 MWK667K	-45.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$99.97 MWK174K	-74.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-82.4%
Average			-67.3%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 76.9% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$370.40 MWK643K	+171.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$593.71 MWK1M	-98.0%
Average			-76.9%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	+104.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+223.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	-70.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+2.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	??
Average			+42.0%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.0% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	+30.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	-43.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-37.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$70.38 MWK122K	-14.9%
Average			-21.0%

Ethiopia 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: Ethiopia vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 71.8% less likely to have access to electricity in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 9 times bigger than Malawi.

Moving from Ethiopia to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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