Cost of living comparison

compared to

Blantyre vs. Lima Cost of Living Summary

Blantyre is 35.5% more expensive than Lima.

Restaurants: pay 0.2% less in Blantyre
Groceries: pay 5.9% more in Blantyre
Transportation: pay 28.0% more in Blantyre
Housing: pay 3.4 times more in Blantyre
Childcare: pay 3.2% less in Blantyre
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1% less in Blantyre
Clothing: pay 15.3% less in Blantyre

The cost of housing, transportation, and groceries in Blantyre are more expensive than in Lima. Expenses including clothing, childcare, entertainment and sports, and restaurants are lower in Blantyre. Notably, housing is significantly more expensive in Blantyre.

Blantyre vs. Lima Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Blantyre instead of Lima, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 0.2% less for restaurants

	Lima	Blantyre
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 PEN14.43	$4.87 MWK8,450.59	+13.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.14 PEN24.04	$8.93 MWK15,478.56	+25.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.01 PEN3.38	$0.82 MWK1,423.30	-18.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 PEN2.20	$0.51 MWK889.00	-21.5%
Average			-0.2%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of restaurants

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pay 5.9% more for groceries

	Lima	Blantyre
Bread 1 loaf	$2.67 PEN8.98	$1.28 MWK2,225.39	-51.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.52 PEN15.21	$1.78 MWK3,088.78	-60.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.76 PEN19.39	$3.70 MWK6,420.31	-35.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.96 PEN9.98	$1.71 MWK2,961.13	-42.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.63 PEN8.87	$2.55 MWK4,420.32	-3.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.02 PEN3.42	$1.00 MWK1,740.37	-1.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 PEN1.71	$1.06 MWK1,841.40	+109.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.58 PEN1.94	$1.11 MWK1,929.95	+93.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 PEN1.90	$0.49 MWK851.64	-12.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 PEN1.55	$0.60 MWK1,043.95	+30.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.43 PEN1.46	$0.61 MWK1,052.30	+39.8%
Average			+5.9%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.0% more for transportation

	Lima	Blantyre
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.20 PEN17.50	$5.98 MWK10,369.26	+15.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.85 PEN76.94	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,990.85 PEN67,325.84	$35,205.31 MWK61,052,096.30	+76.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.70 PEN73.10	$20.15 MWK34,947.42	-7.2%
Average			+28.0%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.4 times more for housing

	Lima	Blantyre
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$24.99 PEN84.15	$305.75 MWK530,219.54	+1123.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$661.42 PEN2,227.56	$201.16 MWK348,854.16	-69.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$374.24 PEN1,260.37	$90.52 MWK156,981.71	-75.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$43.53 PEN146.61	$28.92 MWK50,152.02	-33.6%
Average			+236.2%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2% less for childcare

	Lima	Blantyre
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$192.22 PEN647.36	$358.38 MWK621,489.87	+86.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,215.29 PEN27,667.72	$593.71 MWK1,029,593.41	-92.8%
Average			-3.2%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Lima	Blantyre
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.28 PEN7.69	$1.22 MWK2,120.88	-46.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.61 PEN8.80	$2.66 MWK4,612.16	+1.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.71 PEN19.24	$2.37 MWK4,118.37	-58.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.13 PEN104.83	$59.37 MWK102,959.34	+90.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.14 PEN24.04	??
Average			-3.1%

Lima vs. Blantyre - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.3% less for clothing

	Lima	Blantyre
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$51.07 PEN172.00	$44.72 MWK77,544.27	-12.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$35.74 PEN120.36	$34.73 MWK60,234.04	-2.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$83.99 PEN282.88	$58.69 MWK101,783.88	-30.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$83.70 PEN281.90	$70.38 MWK122,057.39	-15.9%
Average			-15.3%

Lima vs. Blantyre - 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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