Cost of living comparison

Ethiopia

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 21.8% cheaper than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 19.0% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 29.9% more in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 17.7% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 52.5% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 32.8% less in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 62.6% more in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 8.4% less in Malaysia

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

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Malaysia vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.0% less for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.00 ETB654.34	$3.42 MYR13.98	-14.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	$4.64 MYR18.95	-28.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.61 ETB99.06	$0.75 MYR3.07	+24.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.66 ETB107.50	$0.42 MYR1.72	-35.8%
Average			-19.0%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 29.9% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.19 ETB194.58	$1.10 MYR4.49	-7.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.70 ETB604.57	$6.94 MYR28.32	+87.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.09 ETB669.40	$7.18 MYR29.31	+75.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.77 ETB289.63	$2.09 MYR8.53	+18.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.59 ETB750.34	$1.90 MYR7.75	-58.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.44 ETB399.44	$1.35 MYR5.53	-44.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.30 ETB48.73	$0.73 MYR2.97	+144.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.99 ETB161.65	$1.19 MYR4.84	+20.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB50.42	$0.69 MYR2.83	+125.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.22 ETB35.99	$0.57 MYR2.34	+160.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.49 ETB79.77	$0.61 MYR2.50	+25.3%
Average			+29.9%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.7% less for transportation

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.53 ETB577.22	$2.76 MYR11.29	-21.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	$15.28 MYR62.39	-27.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$55,000.00 ETB9M	$40,802.19 MYR167K	-25.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.53 ETB576.64	$6.46 MYR26.37	+83.2%
Average			-17.7%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.5% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	$27.60 MYR112.71	-87.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$706.95 ETB116K	$363.41 MYR1,483.90	-48.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	$265.07 MYR1,082.35	-32.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	$36.69 MYR149.79	-76.6%
Average			-52.5%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 32.8% less for childcare

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	$231.07 MYR943.51	+69.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$30,187.50 ETB5M	$8,043.53 MYR32,843.35	-73.4%
Average			-32.8%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 62.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.80 ETB130.87	$3.61 MYR14.73	+351.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$0.92 ETB150.32	$2.76 MYR11.29	+200.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	$4.35 MYR17.74	-45.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	$38.82 MYR158.52	-12.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 ETB613.45	$4.73 MYR19.31	+26.1%
Average			+62.6%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.4% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.14 ETB5,421.12	$58.43 MYR238.60	+76.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$70.86 ETB11,591.24	$30.42 MYR124.22	-57.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.65 ETB12,865.68	$77.72 MYR317.35	-1.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.70 ETB13,529.26	$77.79 MYR317.65	-5.9%
Average			-8.4%

Ethiopia vs. Malaysia - 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. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 14.1 times more money in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Ethiopia is about 3.4 times bigger than Malaysia.

Moving from Ethiopia to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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