Cost of living comparison

Marshall Islands

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Marshall Islands Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 56.2% cheaper than Marshall Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 46.2% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 67.4% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 8.9% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 76.6% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 25.5% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 35.0% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 9.1% more in Malawi

The cost of clothing and transportation in Malawi are more expensive than in Marshall Islands. Expenses including housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and childcare are lower in Malawi.

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Malawi vs. Marshall Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Marshall Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.2% less for restaurants

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.00	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	-55.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.50	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	-18.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.83	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	-42.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00	$0.52 MWK902.91	-74.0%
Average			-46.2%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 67.4% less for groceries

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$3.40	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	-53.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$15.39	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	-68.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.52	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	-49.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.19	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	-55.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.99	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	-50.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-45.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$3.29	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	-75.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.95	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	-77.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$5.79	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	-86.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$2.39	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	-68.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$2.49	$0.53 MWK920.74	-78.7%
Average			-67.4%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 8.9% more for transportation

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.81	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	-12.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$4.32 MWK7,505.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+40.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$12.75 MWK22,137.83
Average			+8.9%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 76.6% less for housing

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$80.00	$61.21 MWK106K	-23.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$775.00	$384.08 MWK667K	-50.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$875.00	$99.97 MWK174K	-88.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$191.13	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-85.6%
Average			-76.6%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 25.5% less for childcare

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$150.00	$370.40 MWK643K	+146.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,640.00	$593.71 MWK1M	-77.5%
Average			-25.5%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 35.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.50	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-63.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.33	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	-31.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.00	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	-59.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.50	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+20.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	??
Average			-35.0%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.1% more for clothing

	Marshall Islands	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$70.00	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	-38.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.00	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	-0.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$30.00	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	+63.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.00	$70.38 MWK122K	+40.8%
Average			+9.1%

Marshall Islands vs. Malawi - 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: Marshall Islands vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 15 statistics

Make 92.1% less money in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Marshall Islands is about 655 times smaller than Malawi.

Moving from Marshall Islands to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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