Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Moldova

Moldova vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Moldova is 29.4% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.0% more in Moldova
Groceries: pay 28.0% less in Moldova
Transportation: pay 24.6% more in Moldova
Housing: pay 86.4% more in Moldova
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Moldova
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% less in Moldova
Clothing: pay 20.0% more in Moldova

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

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Moldova vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 43.0% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Moldova
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,791.68	$9.35 MDL167.15	+107.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,836.96	$8.74 MDL156.28	+2.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,839.97	$1.02 MDL18.23	-4.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK900.25	$0.67 MDL11.99	+29.0%
Average			+43.0%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.0% less for groceries

	Malawi	Moldova
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,730.42	$0.51 MDL9.08	-67.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,363.50	$3.87 MDL69.24	-19.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,470.61	$4.41 MDL78.82	+2.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK3,991.68	$2.31 MDL41.28	+0.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,266.15	$2.20 MDL39.31	-10.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,878.91	$0.45 MDL8.07	-58.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,407.56	$0.93 MDL16.57	+14.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,552.52	$0.87 MDL15.59	-2.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,315.88	$1.04 MDL18.56	+36.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,315.72	$0.31 MDL5.61	-58.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK918.03	$0.23 MDL4.20	-55.7%
Average			-28.0%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.6% more for transportation

	Malawi	Moldova
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,304.22	$6.15 MDL109.96	+3.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,483.38	$17.07 MDL305.22	+295.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$32,274.90 MDL577K	-8.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,072.60	$4.30 MDL76.89	-66.3%
Average			+24.6%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of transportation

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pay 86.4% more for housing

	Malawi	Moldova
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$10.64 MDL190.16	-82.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK665K	$414.42 MDL7,408.91	+7.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK173K	$301.91 MDL5,397.46	+202.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,666.15	$134.34 MDL2,401.73	+388.0%
Average			+86.4%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Moldova
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK641K	$219.48 MDL3,923.84	-40.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$5,438.11 MDL97,220.90	+816.0%
Average			+133.0%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Moldova
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,837.97	$1.50 MDL26.74	-8.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,138.90	$1.77 MDL31.61	-40.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,161.40	$3.38 MDL60.51	+40.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,105.17	$31.66 MDL565.92	-29.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$6.45 MDL115.33
Average			-20.9%

Malawi vs. Moldova - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.0% more for clothing

	Malawi	Moldova
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,094.72	$52.78 MDL943.56	+21.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,035.05	$38.13 MDL681.64	-4.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,673.17	$92.27 MDL1,649.64	+88.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$66.57 MDL1,190.11	-5.4%
Average			+20.0%

Malawi vs. Moldova - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Malawi vs. Moldova

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Moldova?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 12.8 times more money in Moldova

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 3.5 times bigger than Moldova.

Moving from Malawi to Moldova · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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