Cost of living comparison

compared to

N'djamena vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

N'djamena is 3.7 times more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 66.5% more in N'djamena
Groceries: pay 56.1% more in N'djamena
Transportation: pay 10.7 times more in N'djamena
Housing: pay 4.2 times more in N'djamena
Entertainment and Sports: pay 42.8% less in N'djamena

The cost of transportation, housing, restaurants, and groceries in N'djamena are more expensive than in Lilongwe. Notably, transportation and housing are significantly more expensive in N'djamena.

N'djamena vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 66.5% more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,670.87	$8.94 FCFA5,009	+78.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,775.27	??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.94 MWK1,623.60	$0.89 FCFA501	-4.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.40 MWK688.80	$0.89 FCFA501	+125.2%
Average			+66.5%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of restaurants

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pay 56.1% more for groceries

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Bread 1 loaf	$1.22 MWK2,123.03	$0.36 FCFA200	-70.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,664.20	$1.79 FCFA1,002	-77.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 MWK6,423.01	$14.33 FCFA8,027	+287.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.66 MWK4,604.38	$2.15 FCFA1,202	-19.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.45 MWK2,507.96	$3.25 FCFA1,818	+124.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,023.29	$2.23 FCFA1,250	+91.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK978.10	$1.01 FCFA568	+79.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,179.91	$1.22 FCFA682	+78.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 MWK1,209.50	$1.16 FCFA651	+66.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.62 MWK1,078.22	$0.76 FCFA424	+21.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK977.52	$0.76 FCFA424	+34.3%
Average			+56.1%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of groceries

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pay 10.7 times more for transportation

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.09 MWK10,569.03	$4.29 FCFA2,404	-29.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,495.00	$89.44 FCFA50,093	+1969.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$12,342.25 FCFA6,912,848
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$4.02 FCFA2,254
Average			+969.9%

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.2 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.37 MWK108,156.28	$447.18 FCFA250,466	+617.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$1,517.71 FCFA850,064
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$67.61 MWK117,250.01	$89.44 FCFA50,093	+32.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,050.27	??
Average			+324.6%

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 MWK606,960.57	??
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,349.49 MWK4,074,415.44	??

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of childcare

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pay 42.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	N'djamena
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.73 MWK3,007.43	$1.34 FCFA751	-22.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.04 MWK5,273.92	$0.89 FCFA501	-70.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,751.33	$1.03 FCFA576	-35.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.45 MWK64,944.47	??
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,850.95	??
Average			-42.8%

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	??	$26.83 FCFA15,028
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$35.77 FCFA20,037
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$44.72 FCFA25,047
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$89.44 FCFA50,093

Lilongwe vs. N'djamena - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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