Cost of living comparison

compared to

Blantyre vs. Ottawa Cost of Living Summary

Blantyre is 17.8% cheaper than Ottawa.

Restaurants: pay 54.5% less in Blantyre
Groceries: pay 42.1% less in Blantyre
Transportation: pay 42.6% more in Blantyre
Housing: pay 64.5% more in Blantyre
Childcare: pay 75.3% less in Blantyre
Entertainment and Sports: pay 39.1% less in Blantyre
Clothing: pay 20.7% less in Blantyre

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

Blantyre vs. Ottawa Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 54.5% less for restaurants

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.99 CA$24.81	$4.87 MWK8,450.59	-72.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.01 CA$15.18	$8.93 MWK15,478.56	-18.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 CA$2.76	$0.82 MWK1,423.30	-59.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.56 CA$2.15	$0.51 MWK889.00	-67.1%
Average			-54.5%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of restaurants

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pay 42.1% less for groceries

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Bread 1 loaf	$2.73 CA$3.76	$1.28 MWK2,225.39	-53.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.85 CA$8.07	$1.78 MWK3,088.78	-69.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.65 CA$11.94	$3.70 MWK6,420.31	-57.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.52 CA$4.85	$1.71 MWK2,961.13	-51.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.74 CA$7.92	$2.55 MWK4,420.32	-55.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.91 CA$2.63	$1.00 MWK1,740.37	-47.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.60 CA$0.83	$1.06 MWK1,841.40	+76.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 CA$2.25	$1.11 MWK1,929.95	-31.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.67 CA$2.30	$0.49 MWK851.64	-70.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.11 CA$1.53	$0.60 MWK1,043.95	-45.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.46 CA$2.01	$0.61 MWK1,052.30	-58.4%
Average			-42.1%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of groceries

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pay 42.6% more for transportation

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.05 CA$5.59	$5.98 MWK10,369.26	+47.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$97.12 CA$133.97	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,444.83 CA$33,717.98	$35,205.31 MWK61,052,096.30	+44.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.82 CA$20.44	$20.15 MWK34,947.42	+36.0%
Average			+42.6%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.5% more for housing

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$49.93 CA$68.87	$305.75 MWK530,219.54	+512.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,452.55 CA$2,003.58	$201.16 MWK348,854.16	-86.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,228.71 CA$1,694.82	$90.52 MWK156,981.71	-92.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$118.93 CA$164.04	$28.92 MWK50,152.02	-75.7%
Average			+64.5%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of housing

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pay 75.3% less for childcare

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$788.18 CA$1,087.17	$358.38 MWK621,489.87	-54.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$15,753.32 CA$21,729.34	$593.71 MWK1,029,593.41	-96.2%
Average			-75.3%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of childcare

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pay 39.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.76 CA$7.94	$1.22 MWK2,120.88	-78.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.74 CA$5.16	$2.66 MWK4,612.16	-29.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.95 CA$17.86	$2.37 MWK4,118.37	-81.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.60 CA$61.52	$59.37 MWK102,959.34	+33.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.79 CA$14.89	??
Average			-39.1%

Ottawa vs. Blantyre - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 20.7% less for clothing

	Ottawa	Blantyre
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.82 CA$72.86	$44.72 MWK77,544.27	-15.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$38.91 CA$53.68	$34.73 MWK60,234.04	-10.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.10 CA$120.14	$58.69 MWK101,783.88	-32.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.91 CA$128.15	$70.38 MWK122,057.39	-24.2%
Average			-20.7%

Ottawa 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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