Cost of living comparison

Lesotho

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Maseru Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 49.2% more expensive than Maseru.

Restaurants: pay 19.7% less in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 10.2% more in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 50.2% less in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 2.9 times more in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 6.7 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 19.5% more in Lilongwe

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

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Lilongwe vs. Maseru Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Maseru, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 19.7% less for restaurants

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.01 LSL148.38	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	-44.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.41 LSL138.49	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+21.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.07 LSL17.56	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	+17.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 LSL13.85	$0.57 MWK984.76	-32.6%
Average			-19.7%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.2% more for groceries

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$0.83 LSL13.60	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	+119.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.30 LSL54.39	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+138.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.38 LSL72.07	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	+8.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.54 LSL25.32	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	+88.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.79 LSL45.98	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	-14.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 LSL14.02	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	+37.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.02 LSL16.71	$0.56 MWK979.47	-44.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.23 LSL20.19	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-44.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.09 LSL17.95	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	-5.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.71 LSL11.66	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	+29.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.73 LSL12.00	$0.45 MWK787.71	-37.8%
Average			+10.2%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 50.2% less for transportation

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.98 LSL81.93	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	+21.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.04 LSL494.60	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-85.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,030.86 LSL346K	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.01 LSL98.92	??
Average			-50.2%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.9 times more for housing

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$38.30 LSL630.53	$61.21 MWK106K	+59.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$93.14 LSL1,533.25	$540.71 MWK939K	+480.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$55.58 LSL915.01	$85.13 MWK148K	+53.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$34.63 MWK60,134.34
Average			+187.4%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 6.7 times more for childcare

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$52.06 LSL857.06	$350.00 MWK608K	+572.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,181.73 LSL19,454.17	??
Average			+572.3%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 19.5% more for entertainment and sports

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.80 LSL29.68	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	+22.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.00 LSL32.97	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	+60.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.11 LSL84.08	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	-52.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.03 LSL379.19	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	+33.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	??	??
Average			+19.5%

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Maseru	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.07 LSL758.38	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$55.58 LSL915.01	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$104.15 LSL1,714.61	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$150.22 LSL2,472.99	??

Maseru vs. Lilongwe - 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

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