Cost of living comparison

Taiwan

compared to

Malaysia

Malaysia vs. Taiwan Cost of Living Summary

Malaysia is 23.8% cheaper than Taiwan overall.

Restaurants: pay 17.5% less in Malaysia
Groceries: pay 36.2% less in Malaysia
Transportation: pay 24.7% less in Malaysia
Housing: pay 18.2% less in Malaysia
Childcare: pay 55.6% less in Malaysia
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.0% less in Malaysia
Clothing: pay 7.2% less in Malaysia

Expenses including childcare, groceries, transportation, housing, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Malaysia.

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Malaysia vs. Taiwan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malaysia instead of Taiwan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 17.5% less for restaurants

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.28 NT$136.94	$3.42 MYR13.99	-20.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.99 NT$159.58	$4.64 MYR18.96	-7.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.95 NT$30.41	$0.75 MYR3.07	-21.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.65 NT$20.68	$0.42 MYR1.72	-34.8%
Average			-17.5%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of restaurants

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pay 36.2% less for groceries

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Bread 1 loaf	$1.74 NT$55.75	$1.10 MYR4.50	-36.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$10.75 NT$343.72	$6.94 MYR28.34	-35.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$11.29 NT$360.84	$7.18 MYR29.33	-36.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.49 NT$79.71	$2.09 MYR8.53	-16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.71 NT$118.68	$1.90 MYR7.76	-48.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.94 NT$61.93	$1.35 MYR5.53	-30.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.13 NT$36.09	$0.73 MYR2.97	-35.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.36 NT$43.50	$1.19 MYR4.84	-12.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.45 NT$46.48	$0.69 MYR2.84	-52.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.07 NT$34.32	$0.57 MYR2.34	-46.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.96 NT$30.56	$0.61 MYR2.50	-36.1%
Average			-36.2%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of groceries

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pay 24.7% less for transportation

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.85 NT$123.03	$2.76 MYR11.30	-28.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$34.67 NT$1,108.01	$15.28 MYR62.42	-55.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$32,963.14 NT$1M	$40,802.19 MYR167K	+23.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$8.50 NT$271.68	$6.46 MYR26.39	-24.0%
Average			-24.7%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of transportation

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pay 18.2% less for housing

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$21.08 NT$673.70	$27.60 MYR112.77	+31.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$462.93 NT$14,796.00	$363.41 MYR1,484.73	-21.5%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$291.17 NT$9,306.13	$265.07 MYR1,082.96	-9.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$62.73 NT$2,004.80	$36.69 MYR149.88	-41.5%
Average			-18.2%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of housing

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pay 55.6% less for childcare

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$537.84 NT$17,189.98	$231.07 MYR944.04	-57.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$17,498.18 NT$559K	$8,043.53 MYR32,861.85	-54.0%
Average			-55.6%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.0% less for entertainment and sports

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.82 NT$58.32	$3.61 MYR14.74	+97.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.83 NT$90.51	$2.76 MYR11.29	-2.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.03 NT$128.75	$4.35 MYR17.75	+7.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$37.82 NT$1,208.82	$38.82 MYR158.61	+2.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.97 NT$318.70	$4.73 MYR19.32	-52.6%
Average			-4.0%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.2% less for clothing

	Taiwan	Malaysia
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$60.97 NT$1,948.76	$58.43 MYR238.74	-4.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.64 NT$1,043.09	$30.42 MYR124.29	-6.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$78.55 NT$2,510.61	$77.72 MYR317.53	-1.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$92.75 NT$2,964.27	$77.79 MYR317.83	-16.1%
Average			-7.2%

Taiwan vs. Malaysia - 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: Taiwan vs. Malaysia

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malaysia?

Quality of Life Comparison · 4 statistics

Live 4.3 years less in Malaysia

Size Comparison · See true size

Taiwan is about 9 times smaller than Malaysia.

Moving from Taiwan to Malaysia · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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