Cost of living comparison

Angola

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Luanda Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 11.1% cheaper than Luanda.

Restaurants: pay 3.6% more in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 14.3% more in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 8.1% more in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 28.5% less in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 54.2% less in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.0% more in Lilongwe

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

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Lilongwe vs. Luanda Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.6% more for restaurants

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.46 AOA4,985.44	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	-8.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.55 AOA5,982.53	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+56.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.36 AOA1,245.36	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	-7.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.18 AOA1,079.18	$0.57 MWK984.76	-52.0%
Average			+3.6%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% more for groceries

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$0.93 AOA847.52	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	+95.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.72 AOA4,311.41	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+66.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.34 AOA6,699.54	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	-35.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.85 AOA1,693.39	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	+56.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.54 AOA1,402.04	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	+54.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 AOA939.60	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	+13.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.44 AOA399.51	$0.56 MWK979.47	+28.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.23 AOA1,126.91	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-44.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.82 AOA748.37	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	+25.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 AOA642.23	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	+30.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 AOA640.03	$0.45 MWK787.71	-35.3%
Average			+14.3%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.1% more for transportation

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.24 AOA1,132.32	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	+385.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.76 AOA29,912.63	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-86.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$14,197.31 AOA13M	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.08 AOA7,378.45	??
Average			+8.1%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 28.5% less for housing

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$77.84 AOA71,064.09	$61.21 MWK106K	-21.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$382.10 AOA349K	$540.71 MWK939K	+41.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$199.76 AOA182K	$85.13 MWK148K	-57.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$77.67 AOA70,915.36	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	-55.4%
Average			-28.5%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 54.2% less for childcare

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$764.47 AOA698K	$350.00 MWK608K	-54.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,318.76 AOA12M	??
Average			-54.2%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 AOA1,495.63	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	+34.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.61 AOA2,379.80	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	+23.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.64 AOA1,495.63	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	+48.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.39 AOA41,445.25	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	-32.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.55 AOA3,240.54	??
Average			+6.0%

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Luanda	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$109.21 AOA99,708.77	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.52 AOA57,083.27	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$96.92 AOA88,491.54	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$199.31 AOA182K	??

Luanda vs. Lilongwe - 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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