Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Zimbabwe is 20.2% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 0.7% less in Zimbabwe
Groceries: pay 3.8% less in Zimbabwe
Transportation: pay 71.9% more in Zimbabwe
Housing: pay 35.3% more in Zimbabwe
Childcare: pay 3.0 times more in Zimbabwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.8% less in Zimbabwe
Clothing: pay 40.1% less in Zimbabwe

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

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Zimbabwe vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 0.7% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	$7.25 ZWL2,334.50	+61.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	$5.38 ZWL1,730.75	-37.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	$0.73 ZWL234.79	-31.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MWK902.91	$0.42 ZWL135.90	-18.8%
Average			-0.7%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.8% less for groceries

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	$1.00 ZWL322.00	-36.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	$5.28 ZWL1,701.44	+9.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	$5.96 ZWL1,919.26	+38.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	$1.90 ZWL611.53	-17.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	$2.12 ZWL682.33	-14.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	$1.10 ZWL353.72	+1.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	$0.73 ZWL236.30	-9.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	$1.02 ZWL328.63	+13.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	$0.59 ZWL188.63	-22.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	$0.67 ZWL217.09	-11.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK920.74	$0.72 ZWL231.09	+35.4%
Average			-3.8%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 71.9% more for transportation

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	$6.57 ZWL2,116.06	+10.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	$45.00 ZWL14,490.00	+941.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,205.31 MWK61M	$23,500.00 ZWL8M	-33.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	$19.50 ZWL6,279.00	+53.0%
Average			+71.9%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 35.3% more for housing

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$61.21 MWK106K	$88.24 ZWL28,414.33	+44.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$384.08 MWK667K	$282.50 ZWL90,965.00	-26.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$99.97 MWK174K	$212.05 ZWL68,280.10	+112.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	$55.83 ZWL17,977.33	+102.8%
Average			+35.3%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of housing

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pay 3.0 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$370.40 MWK643K	$331.89 ZWL107K	-10.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$593.71 MWK1M	$6,027.78 ZWL2M	+915.3%
Average			+201.6%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	$1.38 ZWL442.75	-16.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	$2.56 ZWL825.12	-13.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	$1.75 ZWL563.50	-27.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	$39.58 ZWL12,745.83	-12.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	$10.00 ZWL3,220.00
Average			-15.8%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 40.1% less for clothing

	Malawi	Zimbabwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	$22.24 ZWL7,160.03	-48.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	$16.41 ZWL5,282.85	-58.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	$42.46 ZWL13,673.21	-13.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.38 MWK122K	$49.35 ZWL15,890.90	-29.9%
Average			-40.1%

Malawi vs. Zimbabwe - 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. Zimbabwe

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Zimbabwe?

Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Make 4.5 times more money in Zimbabwe

Size Comparison · See true size

Malawi is about 3.3 times smaller than Zimbabwe.

Moving from Malawi to Zimbabwe · UN DESA 2020

108,491 people born in Malawi live in Zimbabwe.

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