Cost of living comparison
compared to
Lilongwe vs. Sao Tome Cost of Living Summary
Lilongwe is 20.1% cheaper than Sao Tome.
Lilongwe vs. Sao Tome Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Sao Tome, you would:
pay 25.0% less for restaurants
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$8.96
STD200K
|
$5.00
MWK8,683.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$7.89
STD176K
|
$10.25
MWK17,800.16
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$1.84
STD41,004
|
$1.26
MWK2,182.36
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$1.25
STD27,770
|
$0.57
MWK984.76
|
|
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of restaurants
pay 36.0% less for groceries
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$1.00
STD22,187
|
$1.82
MWK3,155.26
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$9.80
STD218K
|
$7.88
MWK13,683.33
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.87
STD131K
|
$4.73
MWK8,212.45
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.85
STD108K
|
$2.90
MWK5,041.67
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.89
STD198K
|
$2.38
MWK4,131.01
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.70
STD37,881
|
$1.17
MWK2,026.12
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.79
STD17,644
|
$0.56
MWK979.47
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.63
STD36,419
|
$0.68
MWK1,181.56
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.57
STD34,958
|
$1.03
MWK1,786.72
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.31
STD29,299
|
$0.92
MWK1,593.81
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.08
STD23,986
|
$0.45
MWK787.71
|
|
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of groceries
pay 6.7% less for transportation
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$6.46
STD144K
|
$6.03
MWK10,463.30
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$4.32
MWK7,505.49
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$24,634.18
STD549M
|
?? | |
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.43
STD500K
|
?? | |
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of transportation
pay 27.6% less for housing
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$66.91
STD1M
|
$61.21
MWK106K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$284.91
STD6M
|
$540.71
MWK939K
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$195.02
STD4M
|
$85.13
MWK148K
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$174.83
STD4M
|
$34.63
MWK60,134.34
|
|
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of housing
pay 53.1% more for childcare
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$228.62
STD5M
|
$350.00
MWK608K
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$2,194.77
STD49M
|
?? | |
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of childcare
pay 15.1% more for entertainment and sports
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$1.70
STD37,799
|
$2.20
MWK3,823.26
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$2.26
STD50,442
|
$3.21
MWK5,580.44
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$2.26
STD50,420
|
$2.43
MWK4,223.25
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$33.92
STD756K
|
$30.85
MWK53,568.54
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$20.16
STD449K
|
?? | |
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay (unknown) more for clothing
|
Sao Tome
|
Lilongwe
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
?? | ?? | |
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$75.02
STD2M
|
?? | |
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
?? | ?? | |
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$18.36
STD409K
|
?? |
Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe - Cost of clothing
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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Compare further: Sao Tome vs. Lilongwe
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cost of living in Sao Tome and Principe vs. Malawi.
This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Sao Tome and Principe and Malawi.
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