Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Rwanda

Rwanda vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Rwanda is 20.9% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.4% less in Rwanda
Groceries: pay 38.1% less in Rwanda
Transportation: pay 56.7% more in Rwanda
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Rwanda
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Rwanda
Entertainment and Sports: pay 31.5% less in Rwanda
Clothing: pay 57.0% less in Rwanda

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

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Rwanda vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 28.4% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Rwanda
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$2.71 RWF4,005	-39.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$6.77 RWF10,013	-20.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$0.78 RWF1,155	-26.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.56 RWF826	+7.5%
Average			-28.4%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of restaurants

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pay 38.1% less for groceries

	Malawi	Rwanda
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.05 RWF1,548	-33.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$2.11 RWF3,115	-56.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$3.16 RWF4,675	-26.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$1.63 RWF2,412	-29.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$2.08 RWF3,078	-15.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$1.09 RWF1,618	+0.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.35 RWF522	-56.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.69 RWF1,019	-23.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.48 RWF707	-37.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.23 RWF333	-70.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.34 RWF499	-36.3%
Average			-38.1%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of groceries

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pay 56.7% more for transportation

	Malawi	Rwanda
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$7.00 RWF10,345	+17.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$25.40 RWF37,550	+487.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$26,080.15 RWF39M	-25.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$18.97 RWF28,037	+48.8%
Average			+56.7%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Malawi	Rwanda
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$21.00 RWF31,041	-65.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$666.07 RWF985K	+73.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$413.79 RWF612K	+313.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$64.32 RWF95,077	+133.6%
Average			+136.8%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Rwanda
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$112.90 RWF167K	-69.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$9,510.48 RWF14M	+1501.9%
Average			+121.0%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of childcare

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pay 31.5% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Rwanda
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$1.02 RWF1,502	-38.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$2.42 RWF3,578	-18.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$2.03 RWF3,004	-15.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$26.72 RWF39,497	-40.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$3.39 RWF5,007
Average			-31.5%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 57.0% less for clothing

	Malawi	Rwanda
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$17.39 RWF25,701	-59.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$15.58 RWF23,031	-60.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$22.24 RWF32,877	-54.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$33.87 RWF50,067	-51.9%
Average			-57.0%

Malawi vs. Rwanda - 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. Rwanda

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Rwanda?

Quality of Life Comparison · 20 statistics

Be 4.1 times more likely to have access to electricity in Rwanda

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 4.5 times bigger than Rwanda.

Moving from Malawi to Rwanda · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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