Cost of living comparison

Sri Lanka

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Sri Lanka Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 31.2% more expensive than Sri Lanka overall.

Restaurants: pay 67.5% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 22.9% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 27.4% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 5.2% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 3.3 times more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.0% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 71.5% more in Malawi

The cost of childcare, clothing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, transportation, and groceries in Malawi are more expensive than in Sri Lanka. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Malawi.

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Malawi vs. Sri Lanka Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Sri Lanka, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 67.5% more for restaurants

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.19 LKR726.11	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+105.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.20 LKR2,052.12	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+38.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.82 LKR270.87	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	+29.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 LKR101.62	$0.52 MWK902.91	+69.5%
Average			+67.5%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 22.9% more for groceries

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.50 LKR164.88	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+216.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.10 LKR1,689.36	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	-5.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.00 LKR1,656.35	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	-13.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.59 LKR525.48	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+45.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.92 LKR637.54	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	+28.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39 LKR790.19	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-54.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.33 LKR110.92	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+142.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.65 LKR546.03	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	-45.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.59 LKR195.36	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+28.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.45 LKR150.14	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+67.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.34 LKR113.13	$0.53 MWK920.74	+55.2%
Average			+22.9%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 27.4% more for transportation

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.79 LKR1,585.93	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+24.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.92 LKR1,628.00	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-12.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,619.96 LKR10M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+18.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.96 LKR979.01	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+331.3%
Average			+27.4%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.2% more for housing

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$16.30 LKR5,399.45	$61.21 MWK106K	+275.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.30 LKR83,230.31	$384.08 MWK667K	+52.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$143.93 LKR47,668.88	$99.97 MWK174K	-30.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.77 LKR11,847.20	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-23.0%
Average			+5.2%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 3.3 times more for childcare

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$28.08 LKR9,301.28	$370.40 MWK643K	+1218.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$711.79 LKR236K	$593.71 MWK1M	-16.6%
Average			+231.7%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.16 LKR714.17	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	-24.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.16 LKR713.82	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+37.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$9.91 LKR3,283.39	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	-75.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$9.67 LKR3,202.38	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+366.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.64 LKR1,206.25	??
Average			+40.0%

Sri Lanka vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 71.5% more for clothing

	Sri Lanka	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$21.76 LKR7,207.45	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	+99.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.15 LKR4,354.50	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	+203.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$71.61 LKR23,716.18	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-31.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$33.60 LKR11,128.93	$70.38 MWK122K	+109.5%
Average			+71.5%

Sri Lanka 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: Sri Lanka vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 23 statistics

Make 86.6% less money in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Sri Lanka is about 1.8 times smaller than Malawi.

Moving from Sri Lanka to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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