Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Ulaanbaatar is 42.0% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 18.2% less in Ulaanbaatar
Groceries: pay 0.1% less in Ulaanbaatar
Transportation: pay 44.6% more in Ulaanbaatar
Housing: pay 96.3% more in Ulaanbaatar
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Ulaanbaatar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.8% more in Ulaanbaatar

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

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Ulaanbaatar vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 18.2% less for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.00 MWK8,687.52	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+11.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.25 MWK17,809.41	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	-45.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.26 MWK2,183.49	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	-31.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 MWK985.27	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	+4.1%
Average			-18.2%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.1% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.82 MWK3,156.90	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	-45.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,690.44	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	-21.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.73 MWK8,216.72	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	+16.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.90 MWK5,044.29	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	-27.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.38 MWK4,133.15	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	-6.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MWK2,027.17	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	+19.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK979.98	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	+93.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 MWK1,182.18	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	+148.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,787.65	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	+33.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 MWK1,594.64	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	-64.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 MWK788.12	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	+6.0%
Average			-0.1%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of groceries

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pay 44.6% more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.03 MWK10,468.73	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	-28.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,509.39	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	+285.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$26,896.36 MNT97M
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$4.86 MNT17,500.00
Average			+44.6%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of transportation

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pay 96.3% more for housing

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	-77.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$540.71 MWK939K	$569.30 MNT2M	+5.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$85.13 MWK148K	$444.50 MNT2M	+422.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.63 MWK60,165.59	$54.38 MNT196K	+57.1%
Average			+96.3%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK608K	$817.79 MNT3M	+133.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$8,262.71 MNT30M
Average			+133.7%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.20 MWK3,825.24	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	+7.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,583.34	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	-24.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.43 MWK4,225.45	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-30.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$30.85 MWK53,596.37	$67.73 MNT244K	+119.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.17 MNT15,000.00
Average			+16.8%

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Ulaanbaatar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$81.73 MNT294K
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$45.38 MNT163K
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$102.93 MNT370K
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$187.55 MNT675K

Lilongwe vs. Ulaanbaatar - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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