Cost of living comparison
compared to
Lilongwe vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost of Living Summary
Lilongwe is 22.0% cheaper than Kuala Lumpur.
Lilongwe vs. Kuala Lumpur Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Kuala Lumpur, you would:
pay 39.5% more for restaurants
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$4.89
MYR19.98
|
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$4.89
MYR19.98
|
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$0.81
MYR3.30
|
$1.26
MWK2,182.36
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.46
MYR1.88
|
$0.57
MWK984.76
|
|
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants
pay 1.6% less for groceries
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.09
MYR4.47
|
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.00
MYR28.58
|
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$7.96
MYR32.51
|
$4.73
MWK8,212.45
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.53
MYR10.32
|
$2.90
MWK5,041.67
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.02
MYR8.25
|
$2.38
MWK4,131.01
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.55
MYR6.32
|
$1.17
MWK2,026.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.82
MYR3.34
|
$0.56
MWK979.47
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.04
MYR4.23
|
$0.68
MWK1,181.56
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$0.71
MYR2.91
|
$1.03
MWK1,786.72
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.59
MYR2.41
|
$0.92
MWK1,593.81
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.62
MYR2.54
|
$0.45
MWK787.71
|
|
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries
pay 6.6% less for transportation
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$3.22
MYR13.14
|
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$12.24
MYR49.96
|
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$41,736.41
MYR170K
|
?? | |
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$11.01
MYR44.96
|
?? | |
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation
pay 47.7% less for housing
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$26.27
MYR107.27
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$617.87
MYR2,522.90
|
$540.71
MWK939K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$371.37
MYR1,516.38
|
$85.13
MWK148K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$47.56
MYR194.21
|
$34.63
MWK60,134.34
|
|
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing
pay 17.0% more for childcare
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$299.09
MYR1,221.23
|
$350.00
MWK608K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$13,124.70
MYR53,590.76
|
?? | |
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare
pay 33.5% less for entertainment and sports
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$4.40
MYR17.99
|
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.10
MYR12.64
|
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$4.40
MYR17.99
|
$2.43
MWK4,223.25
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$48.89
MYR199.62
|
$30.85
MWK53,568.54
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$5.02
MYR20.48
|
?? | |
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Kuala Lumpur
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$71.46
MYR291.78
|
?? | |
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.92
MYR171.18
|
?? | |
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$86.22
MYR352.05
|
?? | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$96.07
MYR392.29
|
?? |
Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe - Cost of clothing
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
Change currency:
Compare further: Kuala Lumpur vs. Lilongwe
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Malaysia vs. Malawi.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malaysia and Malawi.
Help us improve these prices
MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate.
Learn more
Ask the Elsewhere Community
Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Lilongwe or Kuala Lumpur. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.