Cost of living comparison

Dominican Republic

compared to

Malawi

Lilongwe vs. Santo Domingo Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 31.4% cheaper than Santo Domingo.

Restaurants: pay 16.8% less in Lilongwe
Groceries: pay 0.6% more in Lilongwe
Transportation: pay 41.3% less in Lilongwe
Housing: pay 53.4% less in Lilongwe
Childcare: pay 38.7% more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1% less in Lilongwe

The cost of childcare and groceries in Lilongwe are more expensive than in Santo Domingo. Expenses including housing, transportation, restaurants, and entertainment and sports are lower in Lilongwe.

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Lilongwe vs. Santo Domingo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Santo Domingo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.8% less for restaurants

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$9.95 DOP611.16	$5.00 MWK8,683.00	-49.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.54 DOP463.46	$10.25 MWK17,800.16	+35.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.04 DOP63.95	$1.26 MWK2,182.36	+20.7%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.57 DOP35.01	$0.57 MWK984.76	-0.5%
Average			-16.8%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants

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pay 0.6% more for groceries

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Bread 1 loaf	$1.51 DOP93.03	$1.82 MWK3,155.26	+20.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.62 DOP222.50	$7.88 MWK13,683.33	+117.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.19 DOP318.59	$4.73 MWK8,212.45	-8.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.34 DOP143.71	$2.90 MWK5,041.67	+24.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.53 DOP155.32	$2.38 MWK4,131.01	-5.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.45 DOP88.96	$1.17 MWK2,026.12	-19.4%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.37 DOP22.53	$0.56 MWK979.47	+53.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.24 DOP75.89	$0.68 MWK1,181.56	-44.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.83 DOP51.09	$1.03 MWK1,786.72	+23.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.91 DOP56.14	$0.92 MWK1,593.81	+0.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.00 DOP61.45	$0.45 MWK787.71	-54.7%
Average			+0.6%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries

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pay 41.3% less for transportation

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.38 DOP330.30	$6.03 MWK10,463.30	+12.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$18.24 DOP1,120.45	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-76.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$23,212.79 DOP1M	??
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$21.22 DOP1,303.80	??
Average			-41.3%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation

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pay 53.4% less for housing

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$36.30 DOP2,230.04	$61.21 MWK106K	+68.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$721.96 DOP44,352.33	$540.71 MWK939K	-25.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$350.20 DOP21,513.82	$85.13 MWK148K	-75.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$70.91 DOP4,356.44	$34.63 MWK60,134.34	-51.2%
Average			-53.4%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing

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pay 38.7% more for childcare

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$252.26 DOP15,497.20	$350.00 MWK608K	+38.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,399.96 DOP455K	??
Average			+38.7%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.49 DOP152.79	$2.20 MWK3,823.26	-11.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.27 DOP139.64	$3.21 MWK5,580.44	+41.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$5.32 DOP326.97	$2.43 MWK4,223.25	-54.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$29.64 DOP1,820.74	$30.85 MWK53,568.54	+4.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$7.46 DOP458.37	??
Average			-3.1%

Santo Domingo vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Santo Domingo	Lilongwe
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.80 DOP2,813.91	??
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$46.66 DOP2,866.62	??
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$87.04 DOP5,346.99	??
Men's business shoes (leather)	$124.34 DOP7,638.61	??

Santo Domingo 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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