Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Nairobi Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 15.0% more expensive than Nairobi.

Restaurants: pay 7.7% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 22.5% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 1.6% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 62.6% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 12.6% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.3% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 41.7% more in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Nairobi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 7.7% more for restaurants

	Nairobi	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.80 KES747.37	$4.94 MWK8,546.53	-15.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.97 KES896.85	$9.59 MWK16,599.35	+37.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 KES90.36	$0.88 MWK1,520.92	+25.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.55 KES70.70	$0.45 MWK787.59	-17.2%
Average			+7.7%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.5% more for groceries

	Nairobi	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 KES70.35	$1.25 MWK2,170.61	+129.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.57 KES716.71	$4.83 MWK8,362.60	-13.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.36 KES432.07	$3.70 MWK6,411.01	+10.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.64 KES211.74	$2.18 MWK3,776.48	+32.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.92 KES375.75	$2.00 MWK3,458.39	-31.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.41 KES181.11	$1.09 MWK1,878.71	-22.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.47 KES61.12	$0.81 MWK1,407.41	+71.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.89 KES114.54	$0.90 MWK1,552.35	+0.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.46 KES58.73	$0.59 MWK1,028.86	+30.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.49 KES63.20	$0.61 MWK1,059.32	+24.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 KES65.21	$0.59 MWK1,013.23	+15.5%
Average			+22.5%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.6% more for transportation

	Nairobi	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 KES695.11	$6.04 MWK10,451.79	+11.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.96 KES3,985.98	$4.32 MWK7,482.57	-86.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,671.83 KES2,790,186.52	$35,205.31 MWK60,950,860.76	+62.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.03 KES2,192.29	$20.15 MWK34,889.48	+18.3%
Average			+1.6%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 62.6% more for housing

	Nairobi	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$39.86 KES5,132.38	$184.06 MWK318,658.64	+361.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$476.96 KES61,406.69	$201.16 MWK348,275.70	-57.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.31 KES26,561.75	$79.07 MWK136,888.50	-61.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$29.32 KES3,775.48	$31.77 MWK55,009.78	+8.4%
Average			+62.6%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 12.6% less for childcare

	Nairobi	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$224.14 KES28,856.84	$354.19 MWK613,206.73	+58.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,775.09 KES1,129,767.62	$1,471.60 MWK2,547,772.73	-83.2%
Average			-12.6%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 18.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Nairobi	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.32 KES298.95	$1.48 MWK2,559.90	-36.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.37 KES305.12	$2.85 MWK4,934.84	+20.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.10 KES398.60	$1.98 MWK3,429.16	-36.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.30 KES5,831.99	$48.41 MWK83,812.70	+6.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.35 KES946.67	$3.95 MWK6,839.59	-46.3%
Average			-18.3%

Nairobi vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.7% more for clothing

	Nairobi	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$19.62 KES2,526.41	$44.72 MWK77,415.69	+127.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.88 KES3,203.02	$34.73 MWK60,134.17	+39.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$67.92 KES8,744.25	$58.69 MWK101,615.11	-13.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$62.28 KES8,017.80	$70.38 MWK121,855.00	+13.0%
Average			+41.7%

Nairobi 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

Nairobi vs.

Madrid

Nairobi vs.

Beijing

Nairobi vs.

Cairo

Nairobi vs.

Canberra

Nairobi vs.

Wellington

Nairobi vs.

Mexico City

Nairobi vs.

Quito

Nairobi vs.

Washington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Add prices for Malawi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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