Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Ghana Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 48.2% more expensive than Ghana overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.8% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 13.5% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Malawi
Housing: pay 45.0% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 77.0% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 10.0% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 96.1% more in Malawi

The cost of transportation, clothing, childcare, housing, restaurants, and entertainment and sports in Malawi are more expensive than in Ghana. Notably, transportation, clothing, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Ghana Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 17.8% more for restaurants

	Ghana	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.31 GHS59.97	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	-7.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.95 GHS89.77	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	+20.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 GHS9.52	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	+4.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 GHS3.36	$0.45 MWK786.60	+53.1%
Average			+17.8%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.5% less for groceries

	Ghana	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.65 GHS18.59	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	-23.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.77 GHS42.58	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	+28.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$10.50 GHS118.63	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	-64.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 GHS26.09	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	-5.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.96 GHS22.11	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	+2.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.12 GHS12.63	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	-3.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.68 GHS7.63	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	+20.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 GHS7.65	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	+32.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.20 GHS13.57	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	-50.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.13 GHS12.81	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	-46.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.95 GHS10.74	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	-38.4%
Average			-13.5%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Ghana	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.21 GHS47.57	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	+43.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$31.37 GHS354.37	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	-86.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,000.00 GHS90,384.10	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	+340.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$9.04 GHS102.17	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	+122.8%
Average			+105.0%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 45.0% more for housing

	Ghana	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.58 GHS560.14	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	+271.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$320.05 GHS3,615.88	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	-37.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$117.55 GHS1,328.09	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	-32.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$40.36 GHS455.98	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	-21.3%
Average			+45.0%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 77.0% more for childcare

	Ghana	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$108.94 GHS1,230.77	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	+225.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,083.57 GHS57,434.22	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	-71.1%
Average			+77.0%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 10.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Ghana	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.48 GHS16.74	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	-0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.66 GHS30.10	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	+7.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.40 GHS15.82	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	+41.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.05 GHS339.47	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	+61.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.66 GHS109.10	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	-59.1%
Average			+10.0%

Ghana vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 96.1% more for clothing

	Ghana	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.64 GHS188.04	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	+168.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$19.33 GHS218.34	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	+79.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$33.23 GHS375.44	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	+76.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$44.14 GHS498.65	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	+59.5%
Average			+96.1%

Ghana 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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