Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Ethiopia

Addis Ababa vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Addis Ababa is 29.7% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 27.2% less in Addis Ababa
Groceries: pay 25.6% less in Addis Ababa
Transportation: pay 41.7% more in Addis Ababa
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Addis Ababa
Childcare: pay 61.0% less in Addis Ababa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.8% less in Addis Ababa

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

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Addis Ababa vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Addis Ababa instead of Lilongwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 27.2% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$4.00 ETB654.34	-20.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$6.50 ETB1,063.31	-36.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.61 ETB99.06	-51.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.66 ETB107.50	+15.9%
Average			-27.2%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.6% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.19 ETB194.58	-34.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$3.70 ETB604.57	-53.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$4.09 ETB669.40	-13.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.77 ETB289.63	-39.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$4.59 ETB750.34	+92.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$2.44 ETB399.44	+109.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.30 ETB48.73	-47.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$0.99 ETB161.65	+45.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.31 ETB50.42	-70.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.22 ETB35.99	-76.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.49 ETB79.77	+7.5%
Average			-25.6%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.7% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$3.53 ETB577.22	-41.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$21.11 ETB3,453.30	+388.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$55,000.00 ETB9M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$3.53 ETB576.64
Average			+41.7%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$212.33 ETB34,734.76	+246.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$706.95 ETB116K	+30.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$394.55 ETB64,542.82	+363.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$156.76 ETB25,644.51	+352.7%
Average			+174.4%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of housing

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pay 61.0% less for childcare

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$136.41 ETB22,314.75	-61.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$30,187.50 ETB5M
Average			-61.0%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$0.80 ETB130.87	-63.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$0.92 ETB150.32	-71.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$8.00 ETB1,308.69	+229.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$44.15 ETB7,221.55	+43.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.75 ETB613.45
Average			-27.8%

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Addis Ababa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$33.14 ETB5,421.12
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$70.86 ETB11,591.24
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$78.65 ETB12,865.68
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$82.70 ETB13,529.26

Lilongwe vs. Addis Ababa - 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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