Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Solomon Islands is 99.7% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 53.4% more in Solomon Islands
Groceries: pay 81.2% more in Solomon Islands
Transportation: pay 18.6% more in Solomon Islands
Housing: pay 3.7 times more in Solomon Islands
Childcare: pay 13.4% more in Solomon Islands
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.9% more in Solomon Islands
Clothing: pay 43.8% more in Solomon Islands

The cost of housing, groceries, restaurants, clothing, transportation, and entertainment and sports in Solomon Islands are more expensive than in Malawi. Notably, housing and groceries are significantly more expensive in Solomon Islands.

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Solomon Islands vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Solomon Islands instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 53.4% more for restaurants

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$6.82 SBD55.00	+51.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$12.40 SBD100.00	+44.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$1.55 SBD12.50	+45.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$1.08 SBD8.75	+108.7%
Average			+53.4%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of restaurants

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pay 81.2% more for groceries

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.50 SBD12.08	-5.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$3.27 SBD26.33	-32.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$9.62 SBD77.60	+123.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$5.60 SBD45.20	+143.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$3.87 SBD31.18	+56.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$2.85 SBD23.02	+163.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$1.20 SBD9.64	+47.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$3.88 SBD31.30	+332.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$1.69 SBD13.61	+122.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.89 SBD7.17	+16.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$1.55 SBD12.47	+191.7%
Average			+81.2%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of groceries

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pay 18.6% more for transportation

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$4.99 SBD40.27	-16.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$24.80 SBD199.99	+473.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$18,598.79 SBD150K	-47.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$11.16 SBD90.00	-12.5%
Average			+18.6%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.7 times more for housing

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$89.89 SBD724.96	+46.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$888.61 SBD7,166.32	+131.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$433.97 SBD3,499.83	+334.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$331.86 SBD2,676.34	+1105.5%
Average			+272.6%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of housing

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pay 13.4% more for childcare

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$99.19 SBD799.96	-73.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$2,851.81 SBD22,998.88	+380.3%
Average			+13.4%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$2.48 SBD20.00	+51.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$3.41 SBD27.50	+14.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$4.15 SBD33.50	+72.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$37.20 SBD299.99	-17.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$4.34 SBD35.00
Average			+16.9%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.8% more for clothing

	Malawi	Solomon Islands
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$27.28 SBD219.99	-37.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$92.99 SBD749.96	+133.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$97.13 SBD783.30	+98.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$103.29 SBD832.96	+46.7%
Average			+43.8%

Malawi vs. Solomon Islands - 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. Solomon Islands

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Solomon Islands?

Quality of Life Comparison · 19 statistics

Be 5.2 times more likely to have access to electricity in Solomon Islands

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 4.1 times bigger than Solomon Islands.

Moving from Malawi to Solomon Islands · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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