Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Hungary

Budapest vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Budapest is 2.0 times more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 86.1% more in Budapest
Groceries: pay 5.2% more in Budapest
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Budapest
Housing: pay 3.1 times more in Budapest
Childcare: pay 54.2% more in Budapest
Entertainment and Sports: pay 75.8% more in Budapest

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

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Budapest vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 86.1% more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$13.77 HUF4,451.76	+175.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$10.17 HUF3,289.36	-0.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$2.08 HUF673.49	+65.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$1.83 HUF591.19	+222.5%
Average			+86.1%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.2% more for groceries

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.80 HUF580.67	-1.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$5.57 HUF1,802.14	-29.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$4.40 HUF1,421.11	-7.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$3.88 HUF1,253.03	+33.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$3.10 HUF1,003.00	+30.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$0.85 HUF274.62	-27.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.94 HUF303.05	+66.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$1.06 HUF341.51	+55.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$1.73 HUF558.38	+67.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.45 HUF144.57	-51.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.46 HUF147.52	+0.6%
Average			+5.2%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$7.07 HUF2,284.96	+17.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$27.54 HUF8,903.52	+537.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$29,374.56 HUF9M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$14.14 HUF4,570.47
Average			+137.4%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$23.57 HUF7,621.57	-61.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$817.66 HUF264K	+51.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$631.44 HUF204K	+641.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$132.77 HUF42,926.20	+283.4%
Average			+206.7%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of housing

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pay 54.2% more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$539.65 HUF174K	+54.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$16,674.34 HUF5M
Average			+54.2%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of childcare

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pay 75.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$3.67 HUF1,187.14	+66.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$3.35 HUF1,081.59	+4.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$7.96 HUF2,572.13	+227.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$67.07 HUF21,685.02	+117.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$9.33 HUF3,017.30
Average			+75.8%

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Budapest
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$100.01 HUF32,333.83
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$42.98 HUF13,894.99
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$113.36 HUF36,650.47
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$118.19 HUF38,210.94

Lilongwe vs. Budapest - 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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