Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Indonesia

Indonesia vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Indonesia is 11.5% cheaper than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 60.6% less in Indonesia
Groceries: pay 14.3% less in Indonesia
Transportation: pay 23.4% less in Indonesia
Housing: pay 11.0% more in Indonesia
Childcare: pay 84.9% more in Indonesia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.0% less in Indonesia
Clothing: pay 2.4% less in Indonesia

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

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Indonesia vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 60.6% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Indonesia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$1.66 IDR29,880.08	-63.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$3.14 IDR56,683.37	-63.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$0.55 IDR9,894.46	-48.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.28 IDR4,993.13	-46.8%
Average			-60.6%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 14.3% less for groceries

	Malawi	Indonesia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.18 IDR21,212.95	-25.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$4.68 IDR84,441.47	-3.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$4.72 IDR85,268.98	+9.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$1.55 IDR27,905.81	-32.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$1.36 IDR24,551.95	-44.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$1.11 IDR19,962.89	+1.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.60 IDR10,867.37	-25.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.81 IDR14,582.50	-9.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.55 IDR9,926.34	-27.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.55 IDR10,015.45	-27.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.93 IDR16,769.53	+75.2%
Average			-14.3%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.4% less for transportation

	Malawi	Indonesia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$2.99 IDR53,995.28	-49.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$10.36 IDR187K	+139.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$23,163.54 IDR418M	-34.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$3.87 IDR69,953.06	-69.6%
Average			-23.4%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of transportation

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pay 11.0% more for housing

	Malawi	Indonesia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$19.77 IDR357K	-67.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$280.41 IDR5M	-27.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$163.85 IDR3M	+63.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$49.89 IDR901K	+81.2%
Average			+11.0%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of housing

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pay 84.9% more for childcare

	Malawi	Indonesia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$132.24 IDR2M	-64.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$5,685.47 IDR103M	+857.6%
Average			+84.9%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Indonesia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$2.41 IDR43,579.31	+47.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$1.54 IDR27,741.06	-48.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$2.38 IDR43,014.40	-0.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$22.79 IDR411K	-49.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.03 IDR54,642.27
Average			-26.0%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.4% less for clothing

	Malawi	Indonesia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$42.46 IDR766K	-2.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$27.22 IDR491K	-31.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$71.72 IDR1M	+46.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$65.24 IDR1M	-7.3%
Average			-2.4%

Malawi vs. Indonesia - 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. Indonesia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Indonesia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 24 statistics

Make 7.5 times more money in Indonesia

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 16 times smaller than Indonesia.

Moving from Malawi to Indonesia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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