Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Bhutan

Thimphu vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Thimphu is 45.9% cheaper than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 53.3% less in Thimphu
Groceries: pay 40.1% less in Thimphu
Transportation: pay 31.3% less in Thimphu
Housing: pay 48.6% less in Thimphu
Childcare: pay 87.1% less in Thimphu
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.4% less in Thimphu

Expenses including childcare, restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Thimphu.

Planning a move to Bhutan? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Thimphu vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 53.3% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	$2.58 BTN245.70	-48.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	$4.91 BTN466.83	-52.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	$0.50 BTN47.50	-60.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK984.76	$0.18 BTN17.20	-68.1%
Average			-53.3%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 40.1% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	$1.07 BTN101.96	-41.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	$1.88 BTN178.54	-76.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	$3.03 BTN288.32	-35.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	$1.88 BTN178.87	-35.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	$1.79 BTN170.51	-24.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	$1.15 BTN109.22	-1.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.47	$0.69 BTN65.75	+22.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	$0.73 BTN69.10	+6.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	$0.33 BTN31.76	-67.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	$0.26 BTN24.52	-71.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK787.71	$0.31 BTN29.53	-31.5%
Average			-40.1%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 31.3% less for transportation

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	$2.79 BTN264.82	-53.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$5.17 BTN491.40	+19.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$16,591.53 BTN2M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$13.18 BTN1,253.06
Average			-31.3%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 48.6% less for housing

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$24.17 BTN2,297.69	-60.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$127.00 BTN12,071.65	-76.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$86.02 BTN8,176.19	+1.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	$25.81 BTN2,452.87	-25.5%
Average			-48.6%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 87.1% less for childcare

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$44.98 BTN4,275.09	-87.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$568.68 BTN54,053.67
Average			-87.1%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.4% less for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	$2.58 BTN245.70	+17.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	$1.28 BTN121.21	-60.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	$3.88 BTN368.55	+59.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	$46.53 BTN4,422.57	+50.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.10 BTN294.84
Average			-0.4%

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Thimphu
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$49.97 BTN4,750.10
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$24.99 BTN2,375.05
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$67.21 BTN6,388.16
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$13.96 BTN1,326.77

Lilongwe vs. Thimphu - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: Lilongwe vs. Thimphu

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Thimphu?

More cost comparisons

Lilongwe vs.

Canberra

Lilongwe vs.

Athens

Lilongwe vs.

Bangkok

Lilongwe vs.

Rome

Lilongwe vs.

Washington

Lilongwe vs.

London

Lilongwe vs.

Cairo

Lilongwe vs.

Berlin

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Malawi vs. Bhutan. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Bhutan.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Lilongwe

Add prices for Thimphu

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Thimphu or Lilongwe. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.