Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Tajikistan Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 80.0% more expensive than Tajikistan overall.

Restaurants: pay 24.2% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 45.7% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 2.6 times more in Malawi
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 96.4% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 27.0% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 23.8% more in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Tajikistan Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 24.2% more for restaurants

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.09 TJS56.16	$4.94 MWK8,535.71	-18.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.60 TJS79.35	$9.59 MWK16,578.33	+11.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 TJS5.21	$0.88 MWK1,519.00	+55.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 TJS2.83	$0.45 MWK786.60	+48.5%
Average			+24.2%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 45.7% more for groceries

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.55 TJS5.06	$1.25 MWK2,167.86	+128.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.82 TJS53.71	$4.83 MWK8,352.02	-17.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.96 TJS36.56	$3.70 MWK6,402.89	-6.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.72 TJS15.88	$2.18 MWK3,771.70	+26.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.75 TJS16.11	$2.00 MWK3,454.01	+14.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.70 TJS6.45	$1.09 MWK1,876.33	+55.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18 TJS10.93	$0.81 MWK1,405.63	-31.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.92 TJS8.51	$0.90 MWK1,550.39	-2.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 TJS4.07	$0.59 MWK1,027.56	+34.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.29 TJS2.65	$0.61 MWK1,057.98	+113.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.20 TJS1.87	$0.59 MWK1,011.95	+188.4%
Average			+45.7%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.6 times more for transportation

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.06 TJS37.49	$6.04 MWK10,438.56	+48.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.59 TJS97.66	$4.32 MWK7,473.10	-59.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,647.15 TJS107,429.74	$35,205.31 MWK60,873,698.72	+202.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.60 TJS33.21	$20.15 MWK34,845.31	+459.8%
Average			+162.8%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$19.59 TJS180.68	$184.06 MWK318,255.22	+839.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$370.61 TJS3,418.42	$201.16 MWK347,834.79	-45.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$239.79 TJS2,211.79	$79.07 MWK136,715.20	-67.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$34.50 TJS318.22	$31.77 MWK54,940.14	-7.9%
Average			+179.8%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 96.4% more for childcare

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$95.29 TJS878.97	$354.19 MWK612,430.42	+271.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,972.94 TJS64,316.23	$1,471.60 MWK2,544,547.33	-78.9%
Average			+96.4%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 27.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.06 TJS9.77	$1.48 MWK2,556.66	+39.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.50 TJS13.84	$2.85 MWK4,928.60	+90.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.65 TJS24.42	$1.98 MWK3,424.81	-25.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$33.89 TJS312.58	$48.41 MWK83,706.59	+42.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.50 TJS41.51	$3.95 MWK6,830.93	-12.2%
Average			+27.0%

Tajikistan vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 23.8% more for clothing

	Tajikistan	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.45 TJS243.96	$44.72 MWK77,317.68	+69.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$33.67 TJS310.57	$34.73 MWK60,058.04	+3.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$60.88 TJS561.56	$58.69 MWK101,486.47	-3.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$55.59 TJS512.73	$70.38 MWK121,700.73	+26.6%
Average			+23.8%

Tajikistan 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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