Cost of living comparison

Pakistan

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Pakistan Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 68.8% more expensive than Pakistan overall.

Restaurants: pay 100.0% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 2.5 times more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 6.3% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 61.7% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 78.9% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 49.6% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 67.4% more in Malawi

The cost of groceries, restaurants, childcare, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports in Malawi are more expensive than in Pakistan. Notably, groceries, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

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Malawi vs. Pakistan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 100.0% more for restaurants

	Pakistan	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.20 PKR610.23	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+104.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.26 PKR1,459.15	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+62.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 PKR95.27	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	+209.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.22 PKR59.91	$0.52 MWK902.91	+140.6%
Average			+100.0%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 2.5 times more for groceries

	Pakistan	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.64 PKR176.98	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+147.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.70 PKR748.89	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	+78.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.11 PKR862.13	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	+38.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.15 PKR319.61	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+100.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.21 PKR336.54	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	+103.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.50 PKR138.09	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	+117.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.29 PKR79.13	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+184.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.37 PKR101.61	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	+144.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.24 PKR67.06	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+214.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.14 PKR38.97	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+440.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.18 PKR49.16	$0.53 MWK920.74	+199.0%
Average			+145.1%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.3% more for transportation

	Pakistan	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.66 PKR1,292.82	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+27.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.52 PKR2,917.17	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-58.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,580.47 PKR7M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+49.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.82 PKR1,614.54	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+118.9%
Average			+6.3%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 61.7% more for housing

	Pakistan	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$15.11 PKR4,187.98	$61.21 MWK106K	+305.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$128.29 PKR35,567.88	$384.08 MWK667K	+199.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$72.06 PKR19,977.12	$99.97 MWK174K	+38.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.54 PKR22,050.93	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-65.4%
Average			+61.7%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 78.9% more for childcare

	Pakistan	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$39.09 PKR10,837.58	$370.40 MWK643K	+847.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,756.74 PKR487K	$593.71 MWK1M	-66.2%
Average			+78.9%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 49.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Pakistan	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.51 PKR696.85	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-34.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.74 PKR483.24	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+70.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.93 PKR536.23	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	+24.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$15.98 PKR4,430.43	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+182.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.36 PKR1,208.90	??
Average			+49.6%

Pakistan vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 67.4% more for clothing

	Pakistan	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$15.59 PKR4,323.28	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	+178.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$22.51 PKR6,240.81	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	+77.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.58 PKR19,014.20	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-28.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$31.50 PKR8,731.67	$70.38 MWK122K	+123.5%
Average			+67.4%

Pakistan 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: Pakistan vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

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Quality of Life Comparison · 21 statistics

Be 83.7% less likely to have access to electricity in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Pakistan is about 7 times bigger than Malawi.

Moving from Pakistan to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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