Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Philippines

Manila vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Manila is 35.0% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 20.6% less in Manila
Groceries: pay 13.3% more in Manila
Transportation: pay 40.1% more in Manila
Housing: pay 79.3% more in Manila
Childcare: pay 77.0% more in Manila
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.9% less in Manila

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

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Manila vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 20.6% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Manila
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$5.58 ₱351.45	+11.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$3.98 ₱251.03	-61.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$1.40 ₱88.36	+11.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.85 ₱53.31	+49.2%
Average			-20.6%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.3% more for groceries

	Lilongwe	Manila
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.44 ₱90.93	-20.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$3.89 ₱244.77	-50.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$7.23 ₱455.56	+52.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$2.28 ₱143.70	-21.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$2.18 ₱137.50	-8.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$1.49 ₱93.83	+27.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.85 ₱53.49	+50.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$1.36 ₱85.76	+100.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.83 ₱51.97	-19.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$1.03 ₱64.97	+12.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$1.20 ₱75.72	+165.0%
Average			+13.3%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of groceries

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pay 40.1% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Manila
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$4.96 ₱312.22	-17.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$12.75 ₱803.31	+195.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$21,359.52 ₱1M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$2.54 ₱160.16
Average			+40.1%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of transportation

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pay 79.3% more for housing

	Lilongwe	Manila
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$24.14 ₱1,520.93	-60.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$543.82 ₱34,257.78	+0.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$281.50 ₱17,733.05	+230.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$94.04 ₱5,924.32	+171.6%
Average			+79.3%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of housing

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pay 77.0% more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Manila
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$619.65 ₱39,034.94	+77.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$8,932.60 ₱563K
Average			+77.0%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Manila
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$1.20 ₱75.31	-45.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$2.55 ₱160.66	-20.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$3.11 ₱195.81	+27.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$42.86 ₱2,700.12	+39.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.77 ₱426.76
Average			-7.9%

Lilongwe vs. Manila - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Manila
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$58.27 ₱3,670.68
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$27.47 ₱1,730.75
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$76.69 ₱4,830.90
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$57.51 ₱3,623.11

Lilongwe vs. Manila - 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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