Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 29.4% cheaper than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 9.1% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 41.3% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 0.1% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 57.8% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 53.4% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 41.2% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 3.1% less in Malawi

Expenses including housing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 9.1% less for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.87 PGK75.83	$4.94 MWK8,559.86	-72.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.92 PGK25.13	$9.59 MWK16,625.22	+61.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.41	$0.88 MWK1,523.30	+9.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.70 PGK2.99	$0.45 MWK788.82	-35.4%
Average			-9.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.3% less for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.55 PGK6.59	$1.25 MWK2,173.99	-19.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.60 PGK15.29	$4.83 MWK8,375.64	+34.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.76 PGK32.93	$3.70 MWK6,421.01	-52.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.00 PGK16.99	$2.18 MWK3,782.37	-45.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.63 PGK15.41	$2.00 MWK3,463.78	-45.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.99 PGK8.44	$1.09 MWK1,881.64	-45.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.32 PGK5.61	$0.81 MWK1,409.60	-38.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.73 PGK11.60	$0.90 MWK1,554.77	-67.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.62 PGK6.89	$0.59 MWK1,030.46	-63.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.58 PGK6.71	$0.61 MWK1,060.98	-61.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.18 PGK5.01	$0.59 MWK1,014.81	-50.5%
Average			-41.3%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 0.1% less for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.22 PGK17.89	$6.04 MWK10,468.08	+43.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$23.69 PGK100.53	$4.32 MWK7,494.24	-81.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$22,387.96 PGK94,999.61	$35,205.31 MWK61,045,878.62	+57.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$24.88 PGK105.56	$20.15 MWK34,943.87	-19.0%
Average			-0.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.8% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$165.84 PGK703.70	$184.06 MWK319,155.40	+11.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,652.44 PGK11,255.17	$201.16 MWK348,818.64	-92.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$758.54 PGK3,218.75	$79.07 MWK137,101.90	-89.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$80.08 PGK339.79	$31.77 MWK55,095.53	-60.3%
Average			-57.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 53.4% less for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$631.76 PGK2,680.77	$354.19 MWK614,162.67	-43.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,968.24 PGK16,838.56	$1,471.60 MWK2,551,744.52	-62.9%
Average			-53.4%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 41.2% less for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.98 PGK12.63	$1.48 MWK2,563.89	-50.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.56 PGK10.85	$2.85 MWK4,942.54	+11.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.96 PGK29.52	$1.98 MWK3,434.50	-71.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$73.52 PGK311.97	$48.41 MWK83,943.35	-34.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.30 PGK43.71	$3.95 MWK6,850.26	-61.6%
Average			-41.2%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.1% less for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$31.15 PGK132.20	$44.72 MWK77,536.37	+43.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.48 PGK154.81	$34.73 MWK60,227.91	-4.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.40 PGK324.21	$58.69 MWK101,773.52	-23.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$97.73 PGK414.68	$70.38 MWK122,044.96	-28.0%
Average			-3.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - 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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