Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Zimbabwe

Harare vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Harare is 42.7% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 6.6% more in Harare
Groceries: pay 2.9% less in Harare
Transportation: pay 3.2 times more in Harare
Housing: pay 52.1% more in Harare
Childcare: pay 23.9% more in Harare
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.7% less in Harare

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

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Harare vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 6.6% more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Harare
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00	+100.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$5.75 ZWL1,851.50	-43.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.96 ZWL308.58	-23.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.47 ZWL151.05	-17.3%
Average			+6.6%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.9% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Harare
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.00 ZWL322.00	-45.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$5.73 ZWL1,845.30	-27.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$5.73 ZWL1,843.59	+21.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.93 ZWL622.53	-33.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$2.46 ZWL791.38	+3.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$1.37 ZWL439.66	+17.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.76 ZWL243.55	+34.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$0.92 ZWL296.54	+35.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.70 ZWL226.23	-31.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.78 ZWL251.62	-14.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.80 ZWL257.47	+76.3%
Average			-2.9%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2 times more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Harare
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$6.91 ZWL2,223.82	+14.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$60.00 ZWL19,320.00	+1288.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$22,000.00 ZWL7M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$20.00 ZWL6,440.00
Average			+224.0%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of transportation

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pay 52.1% more for housing

	Lilongwe	Harare
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$68.99 ZWL22,213.67	+12.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$390.00 ZWL126K	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$316.60 ZWL102K	+271.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$39.27 ZWL12,644.39	+13.4%
Average			+52.1%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of housing

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pay 23.9% more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Harare
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$433.79 ZWL140K	+23.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$8,555.56 ZWL3M
Average			+23.9%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Harare
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$1.25 ZWL402.50	-43.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$3.00 ZWL966.00	-6.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$2.00 ZWL644.00	-17.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$47.92 ZWL15,429.17	+55.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00
Average			-4.7%

Lilongwe vs. Harare - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Harare
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$23.22 ZWL7,477.56
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$21.15 ZWL6,809.04
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$38.68 ZWL12,453.92
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$40.37 ZWL12,998.47

Lilongwe vs. Harare - 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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See the cost of living in Malawi vs. Zimbabwe. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Zimbabwe.

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