Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Liberia

Liberia vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Liberia is 31.6% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.4% more in Liberia
Groceries: pay 2.3 times more in Liberia
Transportation: pay 17.2% more in Liberia
Housing: pay 8.0% more in Liberia
Childcare: pay 32.6% less in Liberia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 56.4% more in Liberia
Clothing: pay 8.7% less in Liberia

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

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Liberia vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.4% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Liberia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$7.50 LRD1,280.63	+66.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$11.00 LRD1,878.26	+28.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$2.00 LRD341.50	+88.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$2.00 LRD341.50	+284.7%
Average			+67.4%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.3 times more for groceries

	Malawi	Liberia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.79 LRD305.86	+13.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$3.86 LRD658.77	-20.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$8.01 LRD1,367.97	+85.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$3.60 LRD614.70	+56.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$5.38 LRD917.79	+118.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$0.74 LRD126.76	-31.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$3.83 LRD654.55	+371.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$4.67 LRD796.84	+420.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$5.00 LRD853.76	+557.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$1.00 LRD170.75	+31.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$4.83 LRD825.30	+811.6%
Average			+125.3%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.2% more for transportation

	Malawi	Liberia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$4.69 LRD801.39	-21.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$20.00 LRD3,415.02	+362.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$20,000.00 LRD3M	-43.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$16.91 LRD2,887.90	+32.7%
Average			+17.2%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of transportation

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pay 8.0% more for housing

	Malawi	Liberia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$180.00 LRD30,735.22	+194.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$250.00 LRD42,687.81	-34.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$95.00 LRD16,221.37	-5.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$115.47 LRD19,716.75	+319.4%
Average			+8.0%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of housing

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pay 32.6% less for childcare

	Malawi	Liberia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$100.00 LRD17,075.12	-73.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$1,000.00 LRD171K	+68.4%
Average			-32.6%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of childcare

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pay 56.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Liberia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$4.00 LRD683.00	+144.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$3.00 LRD512.25	+1.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$5.00 LRD853.76	+108.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$62.50 LRD10,671.95	+38.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$5.00 LRD853.76
Average			+56.4%

Malawi vs. Liberia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 8.7% less for clothing

	Malawi	Liberia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$25.00 LRD4,268.78	-42.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$32.50 LRD5,549.42	-18.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$55.00 LRD9,391.32	+12.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$92.50 LRD15,794.49	+31.4%
Average			-8.7%

Malawi vs. Liberia - 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. Liberia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 2.1 times more likely to have access to electricity in Liberia

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is around the same size as Liberia.

Moving from Malawi to Liberia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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