Cost of living comparison

compared to

Blantyre vs. Manila Cost of Living Summary

Blantyre is 76.4% more expensive than Manila.

Restaurants: pay 18.7% more in Blantyre
Groceries: pay 28.7% less in Blantyre
Transportation: pay 3.2 times more in Blantyre
Housing: pay 3.1 times more in Blantyre
Childcare: pay 31.0% more in Blantyre
Clothing: pay 5.5% more in Blantyre

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

Blantyre vs. Manila Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Blantyre instead of Manila, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 18.7% more for restaurants

	Manila	Blantyre
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.02 ₱352.72	$4.87 MWK8,450.59	-19.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.30 ₱251.95	$8.93 MWK15,478.56	+107.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 ₱56.90	$0.82 MWK1,423.30	-15.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ₱29.50	$0.51 MWK889.00	+1.8%
Average			+18.7%

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of restaurants

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pay 28.7% less for groceries

	Manila	Blantyre
Bread 1 loaf	$1.33 ₱78.12	$1.28 MWK2,225.39	-3.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.28 ₱250.48	$1.78 MWK3,088.78	-58.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.32 ₱428.83	$3.70 MWK6,420.31	-49.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 ₱129.66	$1.71 MWK2,961.13	-22.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.28 ₱133.76	$2.55 MWK4,420.32	+11.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 ₱88.79	$1.00 MWK1,740.37	-33.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.82 ₱48.17	$1.06 MWK1,841.40	+29.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.64 ₱95.88	$1.11 MWK1,929.95	-32.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.02 ₱59.97	$0.49 MWK851.64	-52.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.17 ₱68.53	$0.60 MWK1,043.95	-48.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 ₱80.51	$0.61 MWK1,052.30	-55.8%
Average			-28.7%

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.2 times more for transportation

	Manila	Blantyre
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.18 ₱244.86	$5.98 MWK10,369.26	+43.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$13.76 ₱806.23	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,288.58 ₱1,481,442.91	$35,205.31 MWK61,052,096.30	+39.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.92 ₱171.32	$20.15 MWK34,947.42	+589.1%
Average			+223.8%

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.1 times more for housing

	Manila	Blantyre
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$27.10 ₱1,587.67	$305.75 MWK530,219.54	+1028.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$512.96 ₱30,050.25	$201.16 MWK348,854.16	-60.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$251.74 ₱14,747.18	$90.52 MWK156,981.71	-64.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$100.49 ₱5,886.90	$28.92 MWK50,152.02	-71.2%
Average			+208.0%

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of housing

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pay 31.0% more for childcare

	Manila	Blantyre
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$138.58 ₱8,118.26	$358.38 MWK621,489.87	+158.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,035.39 ₱997,958.39	$593.71 MWK1,029,593.41	-96.5%
Average			+31.0%

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of childcare

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pay (unknown) more for entertainment and sports

	Manila	Blantyre
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.46 ₱85.66	$1.22 MWK2,120.88	-16.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.59 ₱151.57	$2.66 MWK4,612.16	+2.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.27 ₱191.48	$2.37 MWK4,118.37	-27.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.13 ₱2,468.23	$59.37 MWK102,959.34	+40.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.48 ₱438.39	??

Manila vs. Blantyre - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 5.5% more for clothing

	Manila	Blantyre
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.23 ₱2,883.81	$44.72 MWK77,544.27	-9.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$29.70 ₱1,739.71	$34.73 MWK60,234.04	+17.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$80.85 ₱4,736.51	$58.69 MWK101,783.88	-27.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$49.70 ₱2,911.26	$70.38 MWK122,057.39	+41.6%
Average			+5.5%

Manila vs. Blantyre - 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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