Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Kenya Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 49.2% more expensive than Kenya overall.

Restaurants: pay 38.4% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 53.5% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 14.2% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 96.7% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 12.7% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.2% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Kenya Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 38.4% more for restaurants

	Kenya	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.74 KES484.15	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	+32.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.17 KES798.62	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	+55.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.54 KES69.44	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	+63.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.44 KES57.53	$0.45 MWK786.60	+2.4%
Average			+38.4%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 53.5% more for groceries

	Kenya	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.54 KES70.01	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	+131.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.37 KES565.28	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	+10.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.52 KES326.23	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	+46.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.60 KES207.28	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	+36.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.57 KES332.87	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	-22.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.08 KES139.60	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	+0.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.40 KES51.88	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	+102.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.69 KES89.87	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	+29.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.32 KES41.21	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	+86.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 KES38.21	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	+107.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.37 KES47.67	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	+58.9%
Average			+53.5%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 14.2% more for transportation

	Kenya	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES698.69	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	+11.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$26.41 KES3,419.10	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	-83.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,331.14 KES2,502,416.20	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	+82.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.74 KES1,778.12	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	+46.7%
Average			+14.2%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 96.7% more for housing

	Kenya	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$37.35 KES4,834.47	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	+392.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$194.00 KES25,113.52	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	+3.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$131.26 KES16,990.97	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	-39.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$24.47 KES3,167.26	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	+29.9%
Average			+96.7%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 12.7% more for childcare

	Kenya	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$172.28 KES22,301.68	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	+105.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,439.34 KES963,022.59	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	-80.2%
Average			+12.7%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Kenya	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.03 KES262.67	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	-27.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.28 KES294.98	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	+25.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.80 KES362.51	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	-29.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.27 KES3,788.44	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	+65.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.10 KES790.23	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	-35.3%
Average			-0.2%

Kenya vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Kenya	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$12.46 KES1,612.32	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	+259.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$20.02 KES2,592.06	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	+73.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$34.44 KES4,457.72	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	+70.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.93 KES4,262.80	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	+113.7%
Average			+129.2%

Kenya 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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