Cost of living comparison

Antigua and Barbuda

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Saint John's Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 51.8% cheaper than Saint John's.

Restaurants: pay 46.4% less in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 49.8% less in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 1.3% less in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 74.6% less in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 89.2% more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 29.9% less in Lilongwe

Expenses including housing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Lilongwe. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Lilongwe.

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Lilongwe vs. Saint John's Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Saint John's, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 46.4% less for restaurants

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.65 EC$45.00	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	-70.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.25 EC$25.00	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+10.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.95 EC$5.27	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	-35.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.20 EC$3.25	$0.57 MWK984.76	-52.8%
Average			-46.4%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 49.8% less for groceries

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$2.78 EC$7.50	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	-34.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.26 EC$11.50	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+85.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.40 EC$22.71	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	-43.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.66 EC$18.00	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	-56.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 EC$9.53	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	-32.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.96 EC$8.00	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	-60.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.11 EC$3.00	$0.56 MWK979.47	-49.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-81.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.70 EC$10.00	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	-72.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	-29.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.30 EC$3.50	$0.45 MWK787.71	-65.0%
Average			-49.8%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 1.3% less for transportation

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.11 EC$16.50	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	-1.3%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$4.32 MWK7,505.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	??
Average			-1.3%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 74.6% less for housing

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$81.40 EC$220.00	$61.21 MWK106K	-24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,048.39 EC$2,833.33	$540.71 MWK939K	-48.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$678.37 EC$1,833.33	$85.13 MWK148K	-87.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$198.07 EC$535.29	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	-82.5%
Average			-74.6%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 89.2% more for childcare

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$185.01 EC$500.00	$350.00 MWK608K	+89.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,850.10 EC$5,000.00	??
Average			+89.2%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 29.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.41 EC$6.50	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	-8.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 EC$10.00	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	-13.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	??	$2.43 MWK4,223.25
Monthly membership at local gym	$64.75 EC$175.00	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	-52.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.29 EC$17.00	??
Average			-29.9%

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Saint John's	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.00 EC$135.13	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.00 EC$200.00	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	??

Saint John's vs. Lilongwe - 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

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