Cost of living comparison

Poland

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Poland Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 44.5% cheaper than Poland overall.

Restaurants: pay 41.4% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 13.1% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 34.3% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 67.0% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 71.7% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.1% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 29.6% less in Malawi

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

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Malawi vs. Poland Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 41.4% less for restaurants

	Poland	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$10.02 PLN38.91	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	-55.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.33 PLN32.36	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+2.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.06 PLN7.99	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	-48.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69 PLN6.55	$0.52 MWK902.91	-69.2%
Average			-41.4%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.1% more for groceries

	Poland	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.26 PLN4.91	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+24.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.34 PLN16.87	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	+11.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.75 PLN14.56	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	+15.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.32 PLN12.89	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	-30.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.84 PLN11.04	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	-13.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.51 PLN1.99	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	+112.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.72 PLN2.79	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+13.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 PLN3.00	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	+16.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.22 PLN4.76	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	-37.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.38 PLN1.49	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+98.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 PLN1.76	$0.53 MWK920.74	+16.9%
Average			+13.1%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.3% less for transportation

	Poland	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.15 PLN23.90	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	-3.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.85 PLN119.83	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-86.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,440.20 PLN118K	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+15.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.65 PLN33.58	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+47.5%
Average			-34.3%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 67.0% less for housing

	Poland	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.87 PLN65.54	$61.21 MWK106K	+262.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$635.08 PLN2,467.09	$384.08 MWK667K	-39.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$525.98 PLN2,043.28	$99.97 MWK174K	-81.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$213.80 PLN830.55	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-87.1%
Average			-67.0%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 71.7% less for childcare

	Poland	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$375.24 PLN1,457.68	$370.40 MWK643K	-1.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,342.23 PLN28,522.48	$593.71 MWK1M	-91.9%
Average			-71.7%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 23.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Poland	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.44 PLN13.36	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-52.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.38 PLN13.13	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	-12.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.25 PLN20.38	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	-54.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.23 PLN140.74	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+24.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.22 PLN28.04	??
Average			-23.1%

Poland vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 29.6% less for clothing

	Poland	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.02 PLN314.75	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	-46.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$36.65 PLN142.38	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	+8.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.93 PLN333.81	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-43.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$95.22 PLN369.91	$70.38 MWK122K	-26.1%
Average			-29.6%

Poland 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: Poland vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 3.5 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Poland is about 2.6 times bigger than Malawi.

Moving from Poland to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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