Cost of living comparison

compared to

Thailand vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Thailand is 66.3% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 27.8% less in Thailand
Groceries: pay 4.0% more in Thailand
Transportation: pay 99.0% more in Thailand
Housing: pay 40.9% more in Thailand
Childcare: pay 4.0 times more in Thailand
Entertainment and Sports: pay 47.3% more in Thailand
Clothing: pay 0.5% more in Thailand

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

Thailand vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 27.8% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Thailand
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.32 MWK7,496.63	$2.33 THB80.24	-46.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.04 MWK15,687.92	$6.02 THB207.04	-33.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 MWK1,512.43	$0.70 THB24.23	-19.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 MWK750.88	$0.38 THB13.05	-12.4%
Average			-27.8%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.0% more for groceries

	Malawi	Thailand
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 MWK2,367.41	$1.40 THB48.12	+2.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 MWK8,358.31	$8.16 THB280.70	+69.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 MWK7,829.40	$6.68 THB229.88	+48.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,000.90	$2.05 THB70.37	-11.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MWK3,340.36	$1.29 THB44.38	-33.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,794.96	$1.23 THB42.33	+18.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,404.48	$0.52 THB17.90	-35.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 MWK1,940.59	$0.82 THB28.03	-27.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK914.37	$0.66 THB22.65	+24.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 MWK1,248.39	$0.69 THB23.81	-3.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,016.99	$0.54 THB18.42	-8.7%
Average			+4.0%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of groceries

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pay 99.0% more for transportation

	Malawi	Thailand
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.19 MWK10,733.95	$4.47 THB153.63	-27.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,496.37	$25.43 THB874.65	+488.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,669.17 MWK61,867,769.65	$31,362.48 THB1,078,567.42	-12.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.40 MWK35,387.63	$9.67 THB332.41	-52.6%
Average			+99.0%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.9% more for housing

	Malawi	Thailand
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$186.12 MWK322,831.41	$17.13 THB589.26	-90.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$202.19 MWK350,689.24	$389.22 THB13,385.42	+92.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$98.76 MWK171,303.14	$225.23 THB7,745.90	+128.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.29 MWK71,609.97	$55.17 THB1,897.45	+33.6%
Average			+40.9%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of housing

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pay 4.0 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Thailand
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.75 MWK615,316.64	$341.66 THB11,749.76	-3.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,467.81 MWK2,545,899.99	$10,344.18 THB355,740.16	+604.7%
Average			+300.5%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of childcare

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pay 47.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Thailand
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MWK1,941.64	$2.20 THB75.65	+96.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MWK5,052.43	$1.90 THB65.32	-34.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,751.83	$3.85 THB132.31	+142.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.33 MWK89,036.74	$48.79 THB1,677.96	-5.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,852.20	$5.42 THB186.43	+37.2%
Average			+47.3%

Malawi vs. Thailand - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.5% more for clothing

	Malawi	Thailand
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.22 MWK78,440.53	$38.62 THB1,328.08	-14.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.94 MWK60,608.23	$29.36 THB1,009.71	-16.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.17 MWK102,632.30	$82.78 THB2,846.89	+39.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.71 MWK122,637.26	$65.55 THB2,254.44	-7.3%
Average			+0.5%

Malawi vs. Thailand - 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: January 2025

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