Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Angola

Luanda vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Luanda is 12.5% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 3.5% less in Luanda
Groceries: pay 12.5% less in Luanda
Transportation: pay 7.5% less in Luanda
Housing: pay 39.9% more in Luanda
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Luanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.7% less in Luanda

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

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Luanda vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.5% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$5.46 AOA4,985.44	+9.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$6.55 AOA5,982.53	-36.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$1.36 AOA1,245.36	+8.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$1.18 AOA1,079.18	+108.4%
Average			-3.5%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.5% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$0.93 AOA847.52	-48.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$4.72 AOA4,311.41	-40.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$7.34 AOA6,699.54	+55.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.85 AOA1,693.39	-36.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$1.54 AOA1,402.04	-35.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$1.03 AOA939.60	-11.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.44 AOA399.51	-22.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$1.23 AOA1,126.91	+81.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.82 AOA748.37	-20.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.70 AOA642.23	-23.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.70 AOA640.03	+54.5%
Average			-12.5%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 7.5% less for transportation

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$1.24 AOA1,132.32	-79.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$32.76 AOA29,912.63	+658.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$14,197.31 AOA13M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$8.08 AOA7,378.45
Average			-7.5%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 39.9% more for housing

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$77.84 AOA71,064.09	+27.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$382.10 AOA349K	-29.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$199.76 AOA182K	+134.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$77.67 AOA70,915.36	+124.3%
Average			+39.9%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$764.47 AOA698K	+118.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$13,318.76 AOA12M
Average			+118.4%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.7% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$1.64 AOA1,495.63	-25.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$2.61 AOA2,379.80	-18.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$1.64 AOA1,495.63	-32.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$45.39 AOA41,445.25	+47.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.55 AOA3,240.54
Average			-5.7%

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Luanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$109.21 AOA99,708.77
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$62.52 AOA57,083.27
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$96.92 AOA88,491.54
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$199.31 AOA182K

Lilongwe vs. Luanda - 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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