Cost of living comparison
compared to
Dili vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary
Dili is 2.1 times more expensive than Lilongwe.
Dili vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Dili instead of Lilongwe, you would:
pay 10.8% more for restaurants
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
|
$5.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
|
$8.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.26
MWK2,182.36
|
$1.67
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.57
MWK984.76
|
$2.83
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of restaurants
pay 2.1% more for groceries
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
|
$2.48
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
|
$1.00
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.73
MWK8,212.45
|
$8.80
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.90
MWK5,041.67
|
$2.70
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.38
MWK4,131.01
|
$4.31
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
MWK2,026.12
|
$1.51
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.56
MWK979.47
|
$0.83
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.68
MWK1,181.56
|
$1.13
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.03
MWK1,786.72
|
$1.06
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
MWK1,593.81
|
$0.55
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.45
MWK787.71
|
$0.53
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of groceries
pay 2.1 times more for transportation
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
|
$5.34
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
|
$30.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$18,000.00
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? |
$32.70
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of transportation
pay 3.6 times more for housing
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
?? | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$540.71
MWK939K
|
$828.75
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$85.13
MWK148K
|
$753.75
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$34.63
MWK60,134.34
|
$114.71
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of housing
pay 4.3 times more for childcare
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$350.00
MWK608K
|
$1,500.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$16,000.00
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of childcare
pay 33.6% more for entertainment and sports
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
|
$2.50
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
|
$4.12
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.43
MWK4,223.25
|
$3.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$30.85
MWK53,568.54
|
$50.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$6.00
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Lilongwe
|
Dili
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? |
$60.00
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? |
$30.00
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? |
$80.00
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? |
$60.00
|
Lilongwe vs. Dili - 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: Lilongwe vs. Dili
Compare countries by overall cost of living
See the
cost of living in Malawi vs. Timor-Leste.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Timor-Leste.
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 Dili or Lilongwe. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.