Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Burkina Faso is 32.8% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 26.1% more in Burkina Faso
Groceries: pay 58.0% more in Burkina Faso
Transportation: pay 9.0% less in Burkina Faso
Housing: pay 68.3% more in Burkina Faso
Childcare: pay 3.7% less in Burkina Faso
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.2% less in Burkina Faso
Clothing: pay 26.6% more in Burkina Faso

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

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Burkina Faso vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Burkina Faso instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 26.1% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$7.25 F CFA4,236	+61.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$7.25 F CFA4,236	-15.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$1.08 F CFA631	+1.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$1.08 F CFA631	+107.9%
Average			+26.1%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of restaurants

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pay 58.0% more for groceries

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.11 F CFA648	-29.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$8.54 F CFA4,983	+76.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$7.59 F CFA4,433	+76.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$2.56 F CFA1,495	+11.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$9.29 F CFA5,425	+277.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$2.13 F CFA1,243	+96.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	??
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$1.55 F CFA904	+72.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$1.74 F CFA1,017	+129.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.71 F CFA414	-6.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.77 F CFA452	+46.0%
Average			+58.0%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of groceries

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pay 9.0% less for transportation

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$5.49 F CFA3,207	-7.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$36,701.04 F CFA21M	+4.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$7.34 F CFA4,285	-42.4%
Average			-9.0%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of transportation

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pay 68.3% more for housing

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$54.06 F CFA31,559	-11.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$341.40 F CFA199K	-11.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$230.45 F CFA135K	+130.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$136.41 F CFA79,640	+395.5%
Average			+68.3%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of housing

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pay 3.7% less for childcare

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$34.14 F CFA19,932	-90.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$5,974.59 F CFA3M	+906.3%
Average			-3.7%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$1.19 F CFA698	-27.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$1.99 F CFA1,163	-32.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$1.32 F CFA772	-45.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$59.75 F CFA34,881	+32.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.83 F CFA3,986
Average			-16.2%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.6% more for clothing

	Malawi	Burkina Faso
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$34.14 F CFA19,932	-21.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$51.21 F CFA29,898	+28.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$85.35 F CFA49,830	+74.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$102.42 F CFA59,796	+45.5%
Average			+26.6%

Malawi vs. Burkina Faso - 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. Burkina Faso

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Burkina Faso?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Make 70.9% more money in Burkina Faso

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 2.3 times smaller than Burkina Faso.

Moving from Malawi to Burkina Faso · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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