Cost of living comparison

compared to

Iceland vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Iceland is 3.7 times more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.6 times more in Iceland
Groceries: pay 98.8% more in Iceland
Transportation: pay 5.0 times more in Iceland
Housing: pay 6.5 times more in Iceland
Childcare: pay 2.4 times more in Iceland
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.4 times more in Iceland
Clothing: pay 2.3 times more in Iceland

The cost of housing, transportation, entertainment and sports, restaurants, childcare, and clothing in Iceland are more expensive than in Malawi. Notably, housing, transportation, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Iceland.

Iceland vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.6 times more for restaurants

	Malawi	Iceland
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.32 MWK7,527.50	$19.40 ISK2,740	+348.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.04 MWK15,752.54	$16.94 ISK2,393	+87.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 MWK1,518.66	$2.81 ISK397	+222.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 MWK753.97	$2.02 ISK286	+367.0%
Average			+256.4%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of restaurants

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pay 98.8% more for groceries

	Malawi	Iceland
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 MWK2,377.16	$2.95 ISK417	+116.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 MWK8,392.74	$7.27 ISK1,026	+50.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 MWK7,861.65	$6.01 ISK848	+33.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,017.38	$5.42 ISK765	+134.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MWK3,354.12	$8.51 ISK1,202	+341.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,802.35	$1.22 ISK173	+18.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,410.26	$1.03 ISK145	+26.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 MWK1,948.58	$1.17 ISK165	+4.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK918.13	$1.87 ISK265	+255.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 MWK1,253.53	$1.23 ISK174	+71.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,021.18	$0.78 ISK111	+33.8%
Average			+98.8%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.0 times more for transportation

	Malawi	Iceland
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.19 MWK10,778.16	$8.36 ISK1,181	+35.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,527.24	$71.28 ISK10,067	+1549.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,669.17 MWK62,122,584.01	$40,660.66 ISK5,742,912	+14.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.40 MWK35,533.38	$22.04 ISK3,112	+8.0%
Average			+401.6%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.5 times more for housing

	Malawi	Iceland
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$186.12 MWK324,161.05	$72.17 ISK10,194	-61.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$202.19 MWK352,133.62	$1,838.04 ISK259,604	+809.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$98.76 MWK172,008.68	$1,497.77 ISK211,545	+1416.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.29 MWK71,904.91	$58.01 ISK8,194	+40.5%
Average			+551.2%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Iceland
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.75 MWK617,850.94	$258.16 ISK36,463	-27.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,467.81 MWK2,556,385.77	$5,993.99 ISK846,592	+308.4%
Average			+140.6%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.4 times more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Iceland
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MWK1,949.64	$9.19 ISK1,298	+720.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MWK5,073.24	$4.65 ISK657	+59.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,763.16	$11.76 ISK1,660	+641.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.33 MWK89,403.45	$61.46 ISK8,681	+19.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,880.42	$14.35 ISK2,027	+263.2%
Average			+340.9%

Malawi vs. Iceland - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.3 times more for clothing

	Malawi	Iceland
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.22 MWK78,763.61	$111.23 ISK15,710	+146.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.94 MWK60,857.86	$59.69 ISK8,430	+70.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.17 MWK103,055.01	$148.00 ISK20,903	+150.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.71 MWK123,142.36	$184.49 ISK26,058	+160.9%
Average			+131.9%

Malawi vs. Iceland - 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: January 2025

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