Cost of living comparison

compared to

South Africa vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

South Africa is 77.2% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.1% more in South Africa
Groceries: pay 6.1% less in South Africa
Transportation: pay 3.7 times more in South Africa
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in South Africa
Childcare: pay 59.1% more in South Africa
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.9% more in South Africa
Clothing: pay 21.1% more in South Africa

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

South Africa vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 34.1% more for restaurants

	Malawi	South Africa
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	$9.33 ZAR159.73	+89.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	$5.11 ZAR87.49	-46.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	$1.03 ZAR17.65	+17.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.45 MWK786.60	$0.80 ZAR13.74	+76.5%
Average			+34.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of restaurants

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pay 6.1% less for groceries

	Malawi	South Africa
Bread 1 loaf	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	$1.00 ZAR17.16	-20.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	$3.88 ZAR66.47	-19.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	$4.37 ZAR74.79	+18.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	$2.33 ZAR39.93	+7.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	$2.13 ZAR36.52	+6.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	$0.73 ZAR12.46	-32.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	$0.65 ZAR11.16	-19.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	$0.68 ZAR11.70	-23.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	$0.71 ZAR12.14	+19.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	$0.59 ZAR10.02	-4.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	$0.60 ZAR10.27	+2.5%
Average			-6.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.7 times more for transportation

	Malawi	South Africa
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	$4.92 ZAR84.25	-18.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	$56.18 ZAR961.29	+1199.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	$21,394.82 ZAR366,106.47	-39.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	$9.34 ZAR159.79	-53.7%
Average			+272.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Malawi	South Africa
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	$39.36 ZAR673.48	-78.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	$404.16 ZAR6,915.94	+100.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	$361.59 ZAR6,187.51	+357.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	$88.13 ZAR1,508.04	+177.4%
Average			+139.2%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of housing

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pay 59.1% more for childcare

	Malawi	South Africa
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	$173.48 ZAR2,968.50	-51.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	$3,962.11 ZAR67,799.29	+169.2%
Average			+59.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.9% more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	South Africa
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	$2.18 ZAR37.27	+47.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	$2.05 ZAR35.06	-28.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	$2.96 ZAR50.72	+49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	$30.26 ZAR517.83	-37.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	$6.85 ZAR117.19	+73.4%
Average			+20.9%

Malawi vs. South Africa - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 21.1% more for clothing

	Malawi	South Africa
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	$50.74 ZAR868.31	+13.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	$32.75 ZAR560.46	-5.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	$94.19 ZAR1,611.79	+60.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	$81.80 ZAR1,399.67	+16.2%
Average			+21.1%

Malawi vs. South Africa - 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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