Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Iraq Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 53.4% more expensive than Iraq overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.0% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 71.2% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 63.9% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 66.4% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 63.3% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 8.9% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 50.9% more in Malawi

The cost of groceries, restaurants, housing, transportation, childcare, and clothing in Malawi are more expensive than in Iraq.

Malawi vs. Iraq Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.0% more for restaurants

	Iraq	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.66 IQD6,092	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	+5.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.78 IQD8,857	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	+41.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.40 IQD521	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	+120.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.23 IQD297	$0.45 MWK786.60	+100.2%
Average			+67.0%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 71.2% more for groceries

	Iraq	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.76 IQD988	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	+65.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.55 IQD3,334	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	+89.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.46 IQD5,826	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	-17.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.69 IQD2,204	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	+29.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.98 IQD2,585	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	+0.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.47 IQD619	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	+129.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 IQD660	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	+60.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.43 IQD560	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	+109.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 IQD399	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	+94.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.29 IQD374	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	+113.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.28 IQD368	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	+107.8%
Average			+71.2%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 63.9% more for transportation

	Iraq	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.08 IQD2,718	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	+190.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.40 IQD48,857	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	-88.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$15,792.71 IQD20,629,879	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	+122.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$15.36 IQD20,064	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	+31.2%
Average			+63.9%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 66.4% more for housing

	Iraq	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 IQD47,412	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	+407.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$287.91 IQD376,094	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	-30.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$193.91 IQD253,307	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	-59.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$66.74 IQD87,177	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	-52.4%
Average			+66.4%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 63.3% more for childcare

	Iraq	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.70 IQD181,176	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	+155.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,066.25 IQD2,699,129	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	-28.8%
Average			+63.3%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 8.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Iraq	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.78 IQD3,628	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	-46.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.47 IQD3,225	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	+15.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.00 IQD2,606	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	-0.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$34.51 IQD45,081	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	+40.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.34 IQD10,890	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	-52.6%
Average			-8.9%

Iraq vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 50.9% more for clothing

	Iraq	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$25.03 IQD32,700	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	+78.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.73 IQD36,227	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	+25.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$50.80 IQD66,361	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	+15.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$38.19 IQD49,886	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	+84.3%
Average			+50.9%

Iraq 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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