Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Mexico City Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 3.1% cheaper than Mexico City.

Restaurants: pay 40.0% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 27.5% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 92.7% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 77.6% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 52.1% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 38.2% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 33.9% less in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Mexico City Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Mexico City, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.0% less for restaurants

	Mexico City	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.86 MX$195.57	$4.94 MWK8,546.53	-54.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.82 MX$158.90	$9.59 MWK16,599.35	+8.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.73 MX$31.20	$0.88 MWK1,520.92	-49.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.30 MX$23.49	$0.45 MWK787.59	-65.1%
Average			-40.0%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 27.5% less for groceries

	Mexico City	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 MX$47.29	$1.25 MWK2,170.61	-52.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.04 MX$90.79	$4.83 MWK8,362.60	-4.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.54 MX$117.78	$3.70 MWK6,411.01	-43.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.61 MX$46.96	$2.18 MWK3,776.48	-16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.80 MX$68.54	$2.00 MWK3,458.39	-47.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.37 MX$24.66	$1.09 MWK1,878.71	-20.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.80 MX$14.41	$0.81 MWK1,407.41	+1.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.97 MX$17.53	$0.90 MWK1,552.35	-7.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 MX$16.32	$0.59 MWK1,028.86	-34.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.96 MX$17.27	$0.61 MWK1,059.32	-36.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.99 MX$17.91	$0.59 MWK1,013.23	-41.1%
Average			-27.5%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 92.7% more for transportation

	Mexico City	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.14 MX$92.54	$6.04 MWK10,451.79	+17.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$19.54 MX$352.03	$4.32 MWK7,482.57	-77.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,030.45 MX$360,826.57	$35,205.31 MWK60,950,860.76	+75.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.42 MX$79.70	$20.15 MWK34,889.48	+355.5%
Average			+92.7%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 77.6% more for housing

	Mexico City	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$30.93 MX$557.23	$184.06 MWK318,658.64	+495.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,079.15 MX$19,439.65	$201.16 MWK348,275.70	-81.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$677.25 MX$12,199.84	$79.07 MWK136,888.50	-88.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$37.36 MX$673.03	$31.77 MWK55,009.78	-15.0%
Average			+77.6%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 52.1% less for childcare

	Mexico City	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$430.39 MX$7,752.95	$354.19 MWK613,206.73	-17.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,897.53 MX$196,307.02	$1,471.60 MWK2,547,772.73	-86.5%
Average			-52.1%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 38.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Mexico City	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.26 MX$58.67	$1.48 MWK2,559.90	-54.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.81 MX$68.70	$2.85 MWK4,934.84	-25.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.34 MX$78.23	$1.98 MWK3,429.16	-54.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$58.44 MX$1,052.82	$48.41 MWK83,812.70	-17.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.51 MX$117.34	$3.95 MWK6,839.59	-39.4%
Average			-38.2%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 33.9% less for clothing

	Mexico City	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.95 MX$1,097.86	$44.72 MWK77,415.69	-26.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$48.08 MX$866.05	$34.73 MWK60,134.17	-27.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$105.72 MX$1,904.43	$58.69 MWK101,615.11	-44.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$110.91 MX$1,997.92	$70.38 MWK121,855.00	-36.5%
Average			-33.9%

Mexico City vs. Malawi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Mexico City vs.

Washington

Mexico City vs.

Algiers

Mexico City vs.

Dublin

Mexico City vs.

Warsaw

Mexico City vs.

Delhi

Mexico City vs.

Rome

Mexico City vs.

Berlin

Mexico City vs.

Hanoi

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Mexico vs. Malawi. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Mexico and Malawi.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Mexico City

Add prices for Malawi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Malawi or Mexico City. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.