Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 29.1% more expensive than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 54.1% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 36.9% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 5.6% less in Malawi
Housing: pay 15.1% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.3% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 3.7 times more in Malawi

The cost of clothing and housing in Malawi are more expensive than in Sao Tome and Principe. Expenses including restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation are lower in Malawi. Notably, clothing is significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Sao Tome and Principe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.1% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$29.20 STD650,623	$4.94 MWK8,546.53	-83.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.68 STD260,249	$9.59 MWK16,599.35	-17.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.92 STD42,768	$0.88 MWK1,520.92	-54.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 STD26,025	$0.45 MWK787.59	-61.1%
Average			-54.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.9% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.08 STD24,088	$1.25 MWK2,170.61	+16.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.22 STD227,718	$4.83 MWK8,362.60	-52.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.97 STD132,995	$3.70 MWK6,411.01	-38.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.09 STD113,503	$2.18 MWK3,776.48	-57.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$9.27 STD206,583	$2.00 MWK3,458.39	-78.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.12 STD47,219	$1.09 MWK1,878.71	-48.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.53 STD11,805	$0.81 MWK1,407.41	+53.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.85 STD41,316	$0.90 MWK1,552.35	-51.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.59 STD35,414	$0.59 MWK1,028.86	-62.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.19 STD26,561	$0.61 MWK1,059.32	-48.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.93 STD20,658	$0.59 MWK1,013.23	-36.9%
Average			-36.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 5.6% less for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.40 STD142,518	$6.04 MWK10,451.79	-5.6%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$4.32 MWK7,482.57
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$35,205.31 MWK60,950,860.76
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$20.15 MWK34,889.48
Average			-5.6%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 15.1% more for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$72.42 STD1,613,544	$184.06 MWK318,658.64	+154.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$350.40 STD7,807,473	$201.16 MWK348,275.70	-42.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$233.60 STD5,204,982	$79.07 MWK136,888.50	-66.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	??	$31.77 MWK55,009.78
Average			+15.1%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay (unknown) more for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$354.19 MWK613,206.73
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	??	$1,471.60 MWK2,547,772.73

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.3% less for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.67 STD37,216	$1.48 MWK2,559.90	-11.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 STD52,050	$2.85 MWK4,934.84	+22.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.34 STD52,050	$1.98 MWK3,429.16	-15.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.38 STD832,797	$48.41 MWK83,812.70	+29.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$21.02 STD468,448	$3.95 MWK6,839.59	-81.2%
Average			-11.3%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 3.7 times more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$44.72 MWK77,415.69
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$34.73 MWK60,134.17
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$58.69 MWK101,615.11
Men's business shoes (leather)	$19.16 STD426,809	$70.38 MWK121,855.00	+267.4%
Average			+267.4%

Sao Tome and Principe 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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