Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 65.0% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 11.2% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 99.8% more in Shanghai
Housing: pay 2.7 times more in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 4.0 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.0% more in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-10.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-49.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-52.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.37 CN¥2.47	-34.8%
Average			-33.2%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.2% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+8.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$8.60 CN¥57.52	+9.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$6.88 CN¥46.02	+45.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-41.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-37.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-14.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.77 CN¥5.16	+36.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$0.90 CN¥6.05	+32.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-25.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-61.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-4.5%
Average			-11.2%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 99.8% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$4.96 CN¥33.21	-17.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$29.83 CN¥199.59	+590.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$19,374.76 CN¥130K
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$5.67 CN¥37.92
Average			+99.8%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.7 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$10.55 CN¥70.59	-82.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$1,036.96 CN¥6,938.07	+91.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$588.71 CN¥3,938.93	+591.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$44.06 CN¥294.77	+27.2%
Average			+167.0%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 4.0 times more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$1,413.50 CN¥9,457.42	+303.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$27,686.22 CN¥185K
Average			+303.9%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-45.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$3.35 CN¥22.41	+4.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$3.73 CN¥24.95	+53.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$65.69 CN¥439.52	+113.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$8.95 CN¥59.88
Average			+17.0%

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$54.37 CN¥363.79
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$37.09 CN¥248.19
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$75.49 CN¥505.08
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$105.70 CN¥707.25

Lilongwe vs. Shanghai - 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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