Cost of living comparison

Indonesia

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Jakarta Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 7.6% more expensive than Jakarta.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 12.8% more in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 4.1% less in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 22.0% less in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 13.5% more in Lilongwe

The cost of restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Lilongwe are more expensive than in Jakarta. Expenses including housing and transportation are lower in Lilongwe. Notably, restaurants and childcare are significantly more expensive in Lilongwe.

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Lilongwe vs. Jakarta Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Jakarta, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.65 IDR47,917.07	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	+88.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.35 IDR60,526.83	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+205.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 IDR8,148.81	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	+178.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 IDR4,636.51	$0.57 MWK984.76	+120.8%
Average			+135.8%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.8% more for groceries

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.11 IDR20,059.21	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	+63.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.72 IDR85,246.59	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+66.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.26 IDR94,988.92	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	-10.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 IDR32,909.88	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	+59.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.39 IDR25,131.46	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	+70.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.27 IDR22,961.98	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	-8.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.61 IDR11,085.81	$0.56 MWK979.47	-8.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.17 IDR21,099.32	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-41.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,189.80	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	+66.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR11,256.36	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	+47.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 IDR17,387.87	$0.45 MWK787.71	-52.9%
Average			+12.8%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 4.1% less for transportation

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.17 IDR57,245.81	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	+90.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.73 IDR212K	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-63.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$27,939.41 IDR504M	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.20 IDR57,752.68	??
Average			-4.1%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 22.0% less for housing

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.02 IDR343K	$61.21 MWK106K	+221.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$365.05 IDR7M	$540.71 MWK939K	+48.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$196.92 IDR4M	$85.13 MWK148K	-56.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.54 IDR1M	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	-57.5%
Average			-22.0%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$153.00 IDR3M	$350.00 MWK608K	+128.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,208.60 IDR148M	??
Average			+128.8%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 13.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.51 IDR45,395.12	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	-12.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 IDR36,041.60	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	+61.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.82 IDR50,943.41	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	-13.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.13 IDR472K	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	+18.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.35 IDR60,526.83	??
Average			+13.5%

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Jakarta	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.46 IDR1M	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.71 IDR518K	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$72.00 IDR1M	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$106.17 IDR2M	??

Jakarta vs. Lilongwe - 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

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