Cost of living comparison

Sao Tome and Principe

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Sao Tome and Principe Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 23.8% cheaper than Sao Tome and Principe overall.

Restaurants: pay 34.5% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 39.8% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 3.0% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 34.9% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 33.8% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.1% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 42.7% more in Malawi

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

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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 34.5% less for restaurants

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 STD200K	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	-49.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.89 STD176K	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+8.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.84 STD41,004	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	-42.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.25 STD27,770	$0.52 MWK902.91	-58.3%
Average			-34.5%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.8% less for groceries

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 STD22,187	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+58.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$9.80 STD218K	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	-50.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.87 STD131K	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	-26.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.85 STD108K	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	-52.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$8.89 STD198K	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	-72.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.70 STD37,881	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-36.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.79 STD17,644	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+2.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.63 STD36,419	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	-45.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 STD34,958	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	-51.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.31 STD29,299	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	-42.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.08 STD23,986	$0.53 MWK920.74	-50.7%
Average			-39.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.0% more for transportation

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.46 STD144K	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	-7.8%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$4.32 MWK7,505.49
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,634.18 STD549M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+42.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.43 STD500K	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	-43.2%
Average			+3.0%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.9% less for housing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$66.91 STD1M	$61.21 MWK106K	-8.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$284.91 STD6M	$384.08 MWK667K	+34.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$195.02 STD4M	$99.97 MWK174K	-48.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$174.83 STD4M	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-84.3%
Average			-34.9%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 33.8% less for childcare

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$228.62 STD5M	$370.40 MWK643K	+62.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,194.77 STD49M	$593.71 MWK1M	-72.9%
Average			-33.8%

Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.70 STD37,799	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.26 STD50,442	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+31.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.26 STD50,420	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	+6.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.92 STD756K	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+33.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$20.16 STD449K	??
Average			+18.1%

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

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pay 42.7% more for clothing

	Sao Tome and Principe	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$43.37 MWK75,316.66
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.02 STD2M	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	-46.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$48.90 MWK84,923.42
Men's business shoes (leather)	$18.36 STD409K	$70.38 MWK122K	+283.3%
Average			+42.7%

Sao Tome and Principe 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: Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Make 83.6% less money in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Sao Tome and Principe is about 123 times smaller than Malawi.

Moving from Sao Tome and Principe to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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