Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Botswana

Botswana vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Botswana is 16.7% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 21.9% more in Botswana
Groceries: pay 14.8% less in Botswana
Transportation: pay 36.2% more in Botswana
Housing: pay 41.2% more in Botswana
Childcare: pay 20.2% more in Botswana
Entertainment and Sports: pay 5.6% less in Botswana
Clothing: pay 6.7% less in Botswana

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

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Botswana vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 21.9% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Botswana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$10.85 BWP148.87	+141.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$5.79 BWP79.40	-32.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$0.72 BWP9.92	-31.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.42 BWP5.71	-20.0%
Average			+21.9%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.8% less for groceries

	Malawi	Botswana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$0.88 BWP12.02	-44.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$3.16 BWP43.42	-34.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$5.47 BWP75.12	+26.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$2.47 BWP33.83	+7.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$2.11 BWP28.88	-14.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$0.75 BWP10.31	-30.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.64 BWP8.75	-21.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.90 BWP12.38	+0.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.74 BWP10.15	-2.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.58 BWP7.97	-23.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.53 BWP7.25	-0.3%
Average			-14.8%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.2% more for transportation

	Malawi	Botswana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$5.15 BWP70.71	-13.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$29.66 BWP406.91	+586.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$19,891.73 BWP273K	-43.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$20.87 BWP286.32	+63.7%
Average			+36.2%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of transportation

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pay 41.2% more for housing

	Malawi	Botswana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$42.10 BWP577.61	-31.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$356.36 BWP4,889.51	-7.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$221.34 BWP3,036.92	+121.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$45.63 BWP626.12	+65.8%
Average			+41.2%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of housing

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pay 20.2% more for childcare

	Malawi	Botswana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$127.13 BWP1,744.25	-65.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$2,500.03 BWP34,301.86	+321.1%
Average			+20.2%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of childcare

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pay 5.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Botswana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$1.99 BWP27.29	+21.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$2.32 BWP31.83	-21.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$3.62 BWP49.62	+50.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$33.58 BWP460.78	-25.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.15 BWP84.36
Average			-5.6%

Malawi vs. Botswana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.7% less for clothing

	Malawi	Botswana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$47.53 BWP652.19	+9.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$16.75 BWP229.75	-58.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$72.33 BWP992.46	+47.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$78.36 BWP1,075.16	+11.3%
Average			-6.7%

Malawi vs. Botswana - 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. Botswana

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Botswana?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 11.6 times more money in Botswana

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 4.9 times smaller than Botswana.

Moving from Malawi to Botswana · UN DESA 2020

1,478 people born in Malawi live in Botswana.

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