Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Sri Lanka

Colombo vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Colombo is 0.7% cheaper than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 30.4% less in Colombo
Groceries: pay 13.9% less in Colombo
Transportation: pay 12.6% more in Colombo
Housing: pay 59.8% more in Colombo
Childcare: pay 89.2% less in Colombo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 12.7% less in Colombo

The cost of housing and transportation in Colombo are more expensive than in Lilongwe. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, groceries, and entertainment and sports are lower in Colombo.

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Colombo vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 30.4% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$3.82 LKR1,265.61	-23.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$7.56 LKR2,502.59	-26.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.70 LKR232.56	-44.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.26 LKR87.00	-53.7%
Average			-30.4%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.9% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$0.55 LKR181.98	-69.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$6.89 LKR2,281.50	-12.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$6.03 LKR1,996.25	+27.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.64 LKR541.78	-43.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$2.21 LKR731.08	-7.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$3.06 LKR1,014.37	+162.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.37 LKR122.81	-34.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$2.03 LKR672.87	+198.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.57 LKR187.42	-45.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.46 LKR150.85	-50.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.35 LKR116.82	-22.2%
Average			-13.9%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.6% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$5.14 LKR1,701.24	-14.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$7.19 LKR2,381.42	+66.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$37,024.95 LKR12M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$3.29 LKR1,091.13
Average			+12.6%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of transportation

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pay 59.8% more for housing

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$20.78 LKR6,883.48	-66.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$589.61 LKR195K	+9.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$270.44 LKR89,571.04	+217.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$41.14 LKR13,624.66	+18.8%
Average			+59.8%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of housing

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pay 89.2% less for childcare

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$37.78 LKR12,512.93	-89.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$1,208.98 LKR400K
Average			-89.2%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of childcare

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pay 12.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$2.21 LKR730.76	+0.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$2.51 LKR832.69	-21.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$10.28 LKR3,403.52	+322.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$13.99 LKR4,634.42	-54.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.53 LKR1,501.55
Average			-12.7%

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Colombo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$18.13 LKR6,006.21
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$16.62 LKR5,505.69
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$79.09 LKR26,193.74
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$41.76 LKR13,832.48

Lilongwe vs. Colombo - 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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