Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

South Africa

South Africa vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 49.9% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 33.4% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 8.0% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 77.0% more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 2.1 times more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 6.9% less in South Africa
Clothing: pay 27.1% more in South Africa

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

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South Africa vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in South Africa instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.4% more for restaurants

	Malawi	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$10.21 ZAR168.45	+126.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$5.91 ZAR97.49	-31.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$1.08 ZAR17.88	+2.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.84 ZAR13.78	+60.7%
Average			+33.4%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 8.0% less for groceries

	Malawi	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.07 ZAR17.59	-32.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$4.08 ZAR67.33	-15.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$4.58 ZAR75.49	+6.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$2.56 ZAR42.28	+11.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$2.31 ZAR38.16	-6.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$0.81 ZAR13.40	-25.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.74 ZAR12.13	-9.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$0.79 ZAR12.95	-12.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.77 ZAR12.71	+1.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.64 ZAR10.62	-15.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.66 ZAR10.85	+24.1%
Average			-8.0%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 77.0% more for transportation

	Malawi	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$5.49 ZAR90.53	-7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$65.15 ZAR1,074.55	+1407.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$32,517.32 ZAR536K	-7.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$7.35 ZAR121.20	-42.4%
Average			+77.0%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.1 times more for housing

	Malawi	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$38.93 ZAR642.17	-36.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$421.37 ZAR6,950.09	+9.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$369.24 ZAR6,090.32	+269.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$105.57 ZAR1,741.24	+283.5%
Average			+109.3%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 2.1 times more for childcare

	Malawi	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$199.53 ZAR3,291.11	-46.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$4,917.78 ZAR81,113.80	+728.3%
Average			+111.2%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 6.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$2.25 ZAR37.13	+37.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$2.25 ZAR37.18	-24.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$3.16 ZAR52.13	+31.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$31.59 ZAR521.05	-30.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$7.32 ZAR120.70
Average			-6.9%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 27.1% more for clothing

	Malawi	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$52.66 ZAR868.55	+21.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$34.13 ZAR562.92	-14.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$99.75 ZAR1,645.29	+104.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$86.61 ZAR1,428.49	+23.0%
Average			+27.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - 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. South Africa

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in South Africa?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 9.8 times more money in South Africa

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 10 times smaller than South Africa.

Moving from Malawi to South Africa · UN DESA 2020

94,119 people born in Malawi live in South Africa.

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