Cost of living comparison

compared to

Madagascar vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Madagascar is 11.7% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.8% less in Madagascar
Groceries: pay 22.2% less in Madagascar
Transportation: pay 35.1% less in Madagascar
Housing: pay 1.8% less in Madagascar
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in Madagascar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 17.0% less in Madagascar
Clothing: pay 26.9% less in Madagascar

Expenses including transportation, clothing, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and housing are lower in Madagascar. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Madagascar.

Madagascar vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.8% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Madagascar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.94 MWK8,559.86	$3.04 MGA13,565	-38.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.59 MWK16,625.22	$4.73 MGA21,097	-50.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 MWK1,523.30	$0.82 MGA3,657	-6.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 MWK788.82	$0.62 MGA2,776	+36.8%
Average			-14.8%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.2% less for groceries

	Malawi	Madagascar
Bread 1 loaf	$1.25 MWK2,173.99	$0.88 MGA3,910	-30.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,375.64	$5.36 MGA23,916	+11.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 MWK6,421.01	$3.89 MGA17,345	+5.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 MWK3,782.37	$1.97 MGA8,790	-9.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.00 MWK3,463.78	$2.63 MGA11,752	+31.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,881.64	$0.64 MGA2,859	-40.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,409.60	$0.33 MGA1,481	-59.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,554.77	$0.57 MGA2,524	-36.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,030.46	$0.41 MGA1,823	-31.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 MWK1,060.98	$0.29 MGA1,279	-53.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,014.81	$0.40 MGA1,805	-30.8%
Average			-22.2%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of groceries

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pay 35.1% less for transportation

	Malawi	Madagascar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.04 MWK10,468.08	$4.44 MGA19,804	-26.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,494.24	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61,045,878.62	$12,651.72 MGA56,433,540	-64.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.15 MWK34,943.87	$17.17 MGA76,588	-14.8%
Average			-35.1%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.8% less for housing

	Malawi	Madagascar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$184.06 MWK319,155.40	$60.23 MGA268,678	-67.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$201.16 MWK348,818.64	$257.49 MGA1,148,552	+28.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$79.07 MWK137,101.90	$71.69 MGA319,786	-9.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.77 MWK55,095.53	$44.95 MGA200,485	+41.5%
Average			-1.8%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Madagascar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.19 MWK614,162.67	$46.54 MGA207,595	-86.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,471.60 MWK2,551,744.52	$8,634.52 MGA38,514,631	+486.7%
Average			+199.9%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of childcare

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pay 17.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Madagascar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.48 MWK2,563.89	$0.82 MGA3,642	-44.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.85 MWK4,942.54	$1.33 MGA5,930	-53.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.98 MWK3,434.50	$1.73 MGA7,734	-12.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.41 MWK83,943.35	$29.94 MGA133,560	-38.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,850.26	$6.47 MGA28,875	+63.9%
Average			-17.0%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.9% less for clothing

	Malawi	Madagascar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.72 MWK77,536.37	$19.48 MGA86,877	-56.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.73 MWK60,227.91	$17.20 MGA76,743	-50.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$58.69 MWK101,773.52	$70.84 MGA315,983	+20.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122,044.96	$55.48 MGA247,460	-21.2%
Average			-26.9%

Malawi vs. Madagascar - 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: December 2025

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