Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Chad

N'djamena vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

N'djamena is 43.6% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 45.3% more in N'djamena
Groceries: pay 2.2% less in N'djamena
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in N'djamena
Housing: pay 73.2% more in N'djamena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 60.5% less in N'djamena

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

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N'djamena vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in N'djamena instead of Lilongwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 45.3% more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$8.54 FCFA4,983	+70.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.85 FCFA498	-32.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.85 FCFA498	+50.5%
Average			+45.3%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.2% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$0.34 FCFA199	-81.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$1.71 FCFA997	-78.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$13.68 FCFA7,985	+189.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$2.05 FCFA1,196	-29.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$3.10 FCFA1,808	+30.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$2.13 FCFA1,243	+82.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.97 FCFA565	+71.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$1.16 FCFA678	+70.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$1.11 FCFA648	+7.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.72 FCFA422	-21.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.72 FCFA422	+59.3%
Average			-2.2%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$4.85 FCFA2,829	-19.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$85.35 FCFA49,830	+1874.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$11,778.47 FCFA7M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$3.84 FCFA2,242
Average			+205.2%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of transportation

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pay 73.2% more for housing

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$426.76 FCFA249K	+597.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$1,707.02 FCFA997K	+215.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$85.35 FCFA49,830	+0.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$32.63 FCFA19,053	-5.8%
Average			+73.2%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	??

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of childcare

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pay 60.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$1.28 FCFA747	-41.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$0.85 FCFA498	-73.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$0.98 FCFA573	-59.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	??
Average			-60.5%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$25.61 FCFA14,949
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$34.14 FCFA19,932
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$42.68 FCFA24,915
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$85.35 FCFA49,830

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - 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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