Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Uganda Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 49.8% more expensive than Uganda overall.

Restaurants: pay 52.9% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 12.4% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 2.4 times more in Malawi
Housing: pay 44.3% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 21.7% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.1% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 89.6% more in Malawi

The cost of transportation, clothing, restaurants, housing, childcare, and groceries in Malawi are more expensive than in Uganda. Notably, transportation and clothing are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Uganda Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 52.9% more for restaurants

	Uganda	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.86 UGX10,119	$4.94 MWK8,559.86	+72.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.80 UGX31,130	$9.59 MWK16,625.22	+9.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 UGX1,729	$0.88 MWK1,523.30	+79.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 UGX1,071	$0.45 MWK788.82	+50.2%
Average			+52.9%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 12.4% more for groceries

	Uganda	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.17 UGX4,122	$1.25 MWK2,173.99	+7.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.18 UGX7,725	$4.83 MWK8,375.64	+121.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.80 UGX9,909	$3.70 MWK6,421.01	+32.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.82 UGX6,443	$2.18 MWK3,782.37	+19.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.24 UGX7,911	$2.00 MWK3,463.78	-10.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.29 UGX4,580	$1.09 MWK1,881.64	-16.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.65 UGX2,295	$0.81 MWK1,409.60	+25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.77 UGX2,724	$0.90 MWK1,554.77	+16.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 UGX2,577	$0.59 MWK1,030.46	-18.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.73 UGX2,570	$0.61 MWK1,060.98	-15.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.78 UGX2,754	$0.59 MWK1,014.81	-24.8%
Average			+12.4%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.4 times more for transportation

	Uganda	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.73 UGX20,270	$6.04 MWK10,468.08	+5.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$42.91 UGX151,787	$4.32 MWK7,494.24	-89.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$10,011.73 UGX35,416,974	$35,205.31 MWK61,045,878.62	+251.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.00 UGX14,167	$20.15 MWK34,943.87	+403.2%
Average			+142.6%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 44.3% more for housing

	Uganda	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$46.09 UGX163,031	$184.06 MWK319,155.40	+299.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$411.55 UGX1,455,893	$201.16 MWK348,818.64	-51.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$206.19 UGX729,421	$79.07 MWK137,101.90	-61.7%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$35.00 UGX123,811	$31.77 MWK55,095.53	-9.2%
Average			+44.3%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 21.7% more for childcare

	Uganda	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$173.88 UGX615,099	$354.19 MWK614,162.67	+103.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$3,718.64 UGX13,154,876	$1,471.60 MWK2,551,744.52	-60.4%
Average			+21.7%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Uganda	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.43 UGX5,060	$1.48 MWK2,563.89	+3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.86 UGX10,119	$2.85 MWK4,942.54	-0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.65 UGX12,902	$1.98 MWK3,434.50	-45.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.77 UGX161,906	$48.41 MWK83,943.35	+5.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.44 UGX22,768	$3.95 MWK6,850.26	-38.6%
Average			-15.1%

Uganda vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 89.6% more for clothing

	Uganda	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$16.81 UGX59,450	$44.72 MWK77,536.37	+166.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$15.94 UGX56,378	$34.73 MWK60,227.91	+117.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$43.26 UGX153,052	$58.69 MWK101,773.52	+35.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$50.77 UGX179,615	$70.38 MWK122,044.96	+38.6%
Average			+89.6%

Uganda 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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