Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Bolivia

Bolivia vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Bolivia is 22.1% cheaper than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 46.5% less in Bolivia
Groceries: pay 46.0% less in Bolivia
Transportation: pay 23.6% less in Bolivia
Housing: pay 5.2% more in Bolivia
Childcare: pay 23.1% more in Bolivia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 37.3% less in Bolivia
Clothing: pay 18.6% less in Bolivia

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

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

Bolivia vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Bolivia instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.5% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Bolivia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$2.00 BOB23.44	-55.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$4.54 BOB53.06	-47.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$0.71 BOB8.31	-33.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.52 BOB6.12	+0.7%
Average			-46.5%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 46.0% less for groceries

	Malawi	Bolivia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$0.97 BOB11.38	-38.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$1.77 BOB20.69	-63.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$2.66 BOB31.04	-38.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$1.33 BOB15.50	-42.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$1.28 BOB15.01	-47.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$0.81 BOB9.46	-25.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.36 BOB4.25	-55.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.37 BOB4.34	-58.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.63 BOB7.38	-17.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.31 BOB3.65	-59.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.31 BOB3.60	-42.0%
Average			-46.0%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.6% less for transportation

	Malawi	Bolivia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$2.28 BOB26.70	-61.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$21.33 BOB249.40	+393.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$13,953.84 BOB163K	-60.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$7.32 BOB85.57	-42.6%
Average			-23.6%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2% more for housing

	Malawi	Bolivia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$21.45 BOB250.79	-65.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$279.68 BOB3,270.08	-27.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$198.23 BOB2,317.77	+98.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$20.53 BOB240.01	-25.4%
Average			+5.2%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of housing

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pay 23.1% more for childcare

	Malawi	Bolivia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$120.46 BOB1,408.41	-67.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$2,766.38 BOB32,345.61	+365.9%
Average			+23.1%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of childcare

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pay 37.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Bolivia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$1.39 BOB16.21	-15.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$1.70 BOB19.90	-42.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$1.72 BOB20.16	-28.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$22.62 BOB264.50	-49.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.70 BOB54.99
Average			-37.3%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.6% less for clothing

	Malawi	Bolivia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$30.62 BOB358.01	-29.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$29.25 BOB341.97	-26.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$52.01 BOB608.10	+6.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$56.19 BOB657.00	-20.2%
Average			-18.6%

Malawi vs. Bolivia - 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

Compare further: Malawi vs. Bolivia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Bolivia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 7.7 times more money in Bolivia

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 9 times smaller than Bolivia.

Moving from Malawi to Bolivia · UN DESA 2020

7 people born in Malawi live in Bolivia.

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