Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malaysia vs. India Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 2.3 times more expensive than India overall.

Restaurants
pay 58.8% more in Malaysia
Groceries
pay 2.6 times more in Malaysia
Transportation
pay 55.0% more in Malaysia
Housing
pay 2.8 times more in Malaysia
Childcare
pay 4.8 times more in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports
pay 85.8% more in Malaysia
Clothing
pay 2.1 times more in Malaysia

The cost of childcare, housing, groceries, clothing, entertainment and sports, and restaurants in Malaysia are more expensive than in India. Notably, childcare, housing, and groceries are significantly more expensive in Malaysia.

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Malaysia vs. India Cost Breakdown

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

pay 58.8% more for restaurants

 
India
Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $2.22
₹215.08
$3.42
MYR13.99
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
 $3.57
₹345.44
$4.64
MYR18.96
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.37
₹36.15
$0.75
MYR3.07
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pay 2.6 times more for groceries

 
India
Malaysia
Bread
1 loaf
 $0.44
₹42.51
$1.10
MYR4.50
Local cheese (8 oz) $2.34
₹226.85
$6.94
MYR28.34
Milk (1 gallon) $2.37
₹228.93
$7.18
MYR29.33
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pay 55.0% more for transportation

 
India
Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.08
₹394.66
$2.76
MYR11.30
Monthly public transit pass $8.73
₹845.04
$15.28
MYR62.42
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $12,591.59
₹1M
$40,802.19
MYR167K
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pay 2.8 times more for housing

 
India
Malaysia
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
 $6.74
₹652.11
$27.60
MYR112.77
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $124.39
₹12,038.30
$363.41
MYR1,484.73
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $82.02
₹7,937.87
$265.07
MYR1,082.96
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pay 4.8 times more for childcare

 
India
Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $51.10
₹4,944.81
$231.07
MYR944.04
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $1,587.68
₹154K
$8,043.53
MYR32,861.85
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pay 85.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
India
Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $1.76
₹170.10
$3.61
MYR14.74
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.55
₹149.89
$2.76
MYR11.29
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
 $4.35
₹420.69
$4.35
MYR17.75
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pay 2.1 times more for clothing

 
India
Malaysia
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
 $21.28
₹2,059.48
$58.43
MYR238.74
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
 $21.90
₹2,119.84
$30.42
MYR124.29
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
 $37.98
₹3,675.81
$77.72
MYR317.53
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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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Compare further: India vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool
What salary would you need in Malaysia?
→
Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics
Make 4.9 times more money in Malaysia
→
Size Comparison · See true size
India is about 10 times bigger than Malaysia.
→
Moving from India to Malaysia · UN DESA 2020
148,096 people born in India live in Malaysia.
→
City Size Comparison · See true size
Compare the size of Delhi vs Kuala Lumpur
→
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