Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Swaziland Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 45.9% more expensive than Swaziland overall.

Restaurants: pay 84.1% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 35.6% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 6.9% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 2.0 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 77.3% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 14.2% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 0.9% more in Malawi

The cost of housing, restaurants, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, and transportation in Malawi are more expensive than in Swaziland. Notably, housing, restaurants, and childcare are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Swaziland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Swaziland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 84.1% more for restaurants

	Swaziland	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.11 SZL52.69	$4.94 MWK8,559.86	+58.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$2.36 SZL40.01	$9.59 MWK16,625.22	+305.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.97 SZL16.35	$0.88 MWK1,523.30	-9.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 SZL9.51	$0.45 MWK788.82	-19.0%
Average			+84.1%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.6% more for groceries

	Swaziland	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 SZL13.02	$1.25 MWK2,173.99	+63.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.61 SZL78.06	$4.83 MWK8,375.64	+4.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.07 SZL68.95	$3.70 MWK6,421.01	-9.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.73 SZL29.27	$2.18 MWK3,782.37	+26.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.30 SZL38.95	$2.00 MWK3,463.78	-13.1%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.71 SZL11.95	$1.09 MWK1,881.64	+53.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.34 SZL5.75	$0.81 MWK1,409.60	+139.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.44 SZL7.38	$0.90 MWK1,554.77	+105.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.64 SZL10.92	$0.59 MWK1,030.46	-7.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.48 SZL8.11	$0.61 MWK1,060.98	+27.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.58 SZL9.88	$0.59 MWK1,014.81	+0.3%
Average			+35.6%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 6.9% more for transportation

	Swaziland	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.52 SZL76.54	$6.04 MWK10,468.08	+33.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.25 SZL512.27	$4.32 MWK7,494.24	-85.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,285.48 SZL292,724.37	$35,205.31 MWK61,045,878.62	+103.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$26.50 SZL448.84	$20.15 MWK34,943.87	-24.0%
Average			+6.9%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.0 times more for housing

	Swaziland	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$28.81 SZL487.87	$184.06 MWK319,155.40	+538.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$266.51 SZL4,513.32	$201.16 MWK348,818.64	-24.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$187.26 SZL3,171.18	$79.07 MWK137,101.90	-57.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$60.22 SZL1,019.75	$31.77 MWK55,095.53	-47.2%
Average			+102.3%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 77.3% more for childcare

	Swaziland	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$109.47 SZL1,853.92	$354.19 MWK614,162.67	+223.5%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,724.70 SZL80,011.33	$1,471.60 MWK2,551,744.52	-68.9%
Average			+77.3%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 14.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Swaziland	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SZL31.71	$1.48 MWK2,563.89	-21.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.97 SZL33.43	$2.85 MWK4,942.54	+44.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.68 SZL45.37	$1.98 MWK3,434.50	-26.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$28.81 SZL487.87	$48.41 MWK83,943.35	+68.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.75 SZL63.42	$3.95 MWK6,850.26	+5.5%
Average			+14.2%

Swaziland vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 0.9% more for clothing

	Swaziland	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$46.08 SZL780.27	$44.72 MWK77,536.37	-3.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.01 SZL406.56	$34.73 MWK60,227.91	+44.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.90 SZL1,268.47	$58.69 MWK101,773.52	-21.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$84.51 SZL1,431.10	$70.38 MWK122,044.96	-16.7%
Average			+0.9%

Swaziland 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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