Cost of living comparison

compared to

Kigali vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary

Kigali is 13.9% cheaper than Kuala Lumpur.

Restaurants: pay 8.2% more in Kigali
Groceries: pay 35.2% less in Kigali
Transportation: pay 71.5% more in Kigali
Housing: pay 11.3% less in Kigali
Childcare: pay 24.9% less in Kigali
Entertainment and Sports: pay 44.6% less in Kigali
Clothing: pay 61.2% less in Kigali

The cost of transportation and restaurants in Kigali are more expensive than in Kuala Lumpur. Expenses including clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, childcare, and housing are lower in Kigali.

Kigali vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Kigali instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.2% more for restaurants

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.74 MYR19.32	$3.45 RWF5,020	-27.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.74 MYR19.32	$6.89 RWF10,039	+45.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 MYR3.61	$0.86 RWF1,249	-3.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 MYR1.98	$0.57 RWF833	+17.6%
Average			+8.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.2% less for groceries

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Bread 1 loaf	$0.98 MYR3.98	$1.05 RWF1,523	+7.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.13 MYR29.06	$2.26 RWF3,286	-68.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.98 MYR32.52	$2.64 RWF3,848	-66.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.23 MYR9.08	$1.65 RWF2,409	-25.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.09 MYR8.54	$2.10 RWF3,051	+0.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 MYR5.38	$1.15 RWF1,679	-12.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.75 MYR3.05	$0.37 RWF537	-50.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 MYR4.98	$0.70 RWF1,022	-42.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.69 MYR2.82	$0.48 RWF698	-30.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.30	$0.23 RWF331	-59.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.62 MYR2.53	$0.39 RWF569	-37.0%
Average			-35.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.5% more for transportation

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.87 MYR7.61	$4.42 RWF6,439	+136.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$11.85 MYR48.31	$29.30 RWF42,667	+147.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,284.36 MYR164,239.34	$26,543.61 RWF38,650,929	-34.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.66 MYR43.48	$14.48 RWF21,082	+35.8%
Average			+71.5%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.3% less for housing

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$25.49 MYR103.91	$19.48 RWF28,361	-23.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$573.16 MYR2,336.79	$575.44 RWF837,921	+0.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.71 MYR1,429.85	$322.51 RWF469,617	-8.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.59 MYR189.95	$39.98 RWF58,218	-14.2%
Average			-11.3%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of housing

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pay 24.9% less for childcare

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$264.45 MYR1,078.18	$166.62 RWF242,614	-37.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,004.74 MYR36,712.32	$7,842.43 RWF11,419,593	-12.9%
Average			-24.9%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of childcare

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pay 44.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.27 MYR17.39	$1.03 RWF1,506	-75.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.06 MYR12.48	$2.31 RWF3,368	-24.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.27 MYR17.39	$1.72 RWF2,510	-59.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.43 MYR189.28	$31.41 RWF45,734	-32.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.98 MYR20.29	$3.45 RWF5,020	-30.7%
Average			-44.6%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 61.2% less for clothing

	Kuala Lumpur	Kigali
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$61.66 MYR251.38	$19.19 RWF27,942	-68.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.10 MYR151.28	$19.30 RWF28,110	-48.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.80 MYR357.96	$22.98 RWF33,464	-73.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$82.47 MYR336.25	$37.92 RWF55,216	-54.0%
Average			-61.2%

Kuala Lumpur vs. Kigali - 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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