Cost of living comparison
compared to
Malabo vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary
Malabo is 2.1 times more expensive than Lilongwe.
Malabo vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Malabo instead of Lilongwe, you would:
pay 11.6% more for restaurants
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$5.00
MWK8,657.42
|
$8.54
FCFA4,999
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.25
MWK17,747.71
|
$8.54
FCFA4,999
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.26
MWK2,175.93
|
$0.85
FCFA500
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$0.57
MWK981.86
|
$0.43
FCFA250
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of restaurants
pay 9.9% more for groceries
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.82
MWK3,145.96
|
?? | |
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$7.88
MWK13,643.01
|
$3.37
FCFA1,973
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.73
MWK8,188.25
|
$10.34
FCFA6,056
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$2.90
MWK5,026.82
|
$3.76
FCFA2,200
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$2.38
MWK4,118.83
|
$2.71
FCFA1,588
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.17
MWK2,020.15
|
$1.08
FCFA635
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.56
MWK976.58
|
$0.77
FCFA454
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$0.68
MWK1,178.08
|
?? | |
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.03
MWK1,781.45
|
?? | |
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.92
MWK1,589.11
|
?? | |
| Onions (1 lb) |
$0.45
MWK785.39
|
?? | |
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of groceries
pay 6.1 times more for transportation
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.03
MWK10,432.46
|
?? | |
| Monthly public transit pass |
$4.32
MWK7,483.38
|
$26.40
FCFA15,461
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) | ?? |
$33,056.06
FCFA19M
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) | ?? | ?? | |
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of transportation
pay 2.6 times more for housing
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
?? | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$540.71
MWK936K
|
?? | |
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$85.13
MWK147K
|
$223.95
FCFA131K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$34.63
MWK59,957.13
|
?? | |
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of housing
pay (unknown) more for childcare
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$350.00
MWK606K
|
?? | |
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters | ?? |
$341.40
FCFA200K
|
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of childcare
pay 16.2% more for entertainment and sports
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$2.20
MWK3,811.99
|
$1.71
FCFA1,000
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.21
MWK5,563.99
|
$4.69
FCFA2,749
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.43
MWK4,210.81
|
$4.52
FCFA2,648
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$30.85
MWK53,410.68
|
$34.14
FCFA19,996
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema | ?? |
$5.39
FCFA3,156
|
|
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Lilongwe
|
Malabo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? | ?? | |
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
?? | ?? | |
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? | ?? | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) | ?? | ?? |
Lilongwe vs. Malabo - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this
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Compare further: Lilongwe vs. Malabo
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See the
cost of living in Malawi vs. Equatorial Guinea.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Equatorial Guinea.
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