Cost of living comparison
compared to
Lilongwe vs. Freetown Cost of Living Summary
Lilongwe is 38.8% cheaper than Freetown.
Lilongwe vs. Freetown Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Freetown, you would:
pay 36.3% more for restaurants
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$2.00
SLL41,939
|
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$11.00
SLL231K
|
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.83
SLL38,444
|
$1.26
MWK2,182.36
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.85
SLL17,805
|
$0.57
MWK984.76
|
|
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.1% less for groceries
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$0.66
SLL13,755
|
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$3.54
SLL74,319
|
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$9.15
SLL192K
|
$4.73
MWK8,212.45
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$1.81
SLL38,023
|
$2.90
MWK5,041.67
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.54
SLL95,116
|
$2.38
MWK4,131.01
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$3.18
SLL66,581
|
$1.17
MWK2,026.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.36
SLL28,535
|
$0.56
MWK979.47
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.32
SLL6,742
|
$0.68
MWK1,181.56
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.27
SLL47,558
|
$1.03
MWK1,786.72
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.91
SLL19,023
|
$0.92
MWK1,593.81
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.74
SLL15,488
|
$0.45
MWK787.71
|
|
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries
pay 20.1% more for transportation
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.02
SLL105K
|
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$12,000.00
SLL252M
|
?? | |
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$4.50
SLL94,363
|
?? | |
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation
pay 73.6% less for housing
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$55.00
SLL1M
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$928.33
SLL19M
|
$540.71
MWK939K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,261.67
SLL26M
|
$85.13
MWK148K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$45.88
SLL962K
|
$34.63
MWK60,134.34
|
|
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly | ?? |
$350.00
MWK608K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? | ?? |
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare
pay 1.0% more for entertainment and sports
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.25
SLL47,181
|
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.76
SLL57,878
|
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$3.00
SLL62,908
|
$2.43
MWK4,223.25
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym | ?? |
$30.85
MWK53,568.54
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? | ?? | |
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Freetown
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$10.00
SLL210K
|
?? | |
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? | ?? | |
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$20.00
SLL419K
|
?? | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$50.00
SLL1M
|
?? |
Freetown vs. Lilongwe - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Freetown vs. Lilongwe
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