Cost of living comparison

Vietnam

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Vietnam Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 0.6% cheaper than Vietnam overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.2 times more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 23.6% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 21.6% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 31.3% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 78.4% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 92.3% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 1.4% more in Malawi

The cost of restaurants, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Malawi are more expensive than in Vietnam. Expenses including childcare and housing are lower in Malawi. Notably, restaurants and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

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Malawi vs. Vietnam Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.2 times more for restaurants

	Vietnam	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.93 ₫49,968	$4.50 MWK7,814.70	+133.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.06 ₫105K	$8.57 MWK14,880.81	+110.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ₫13,022	$1.06 MWK1,845.41	+111.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.30 ₫7,715	$0.52 MWK902.91	+74.5%
Average			+116.6%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.6% more for groceries

	Vietnam	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.96 ₫24,827	$1.58 MWK2,738.49	+64.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.37 ₫139K	$4.83 MWK8,388.22	-10.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.69 ₫147K	$4.31 MWK7,492.69	-24.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.51 ₫39,111	$2.31 MWK4,003.47	+52.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.71 ₫44,332	$2.46 MWK4,278.75	+43.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.32 ₫34,270	$1.09 MWK1,884.46	-18.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ₫13,159	$0.81 MWK1,411.72	+60.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.61 ₫15,883	$0.90 MWK1,557.11	+46.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.55 ₫14,322	$0.76 MWK1,319.77	+37.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ₫12,823	$0.76 MWK1,319.61	+53.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 ₫13,288	$0.53 MWK920.74	+3.3%
Average			+23.6%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 21.6% more for transportation

	Vietnam	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.36 ₫87,093	$5.95 MWK10,334.67	+76.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$7.12 ₫184K	$4.32 MWK7,505.49	-39.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,715.02 ₫795M	$35,205.31 MWK61M	+14.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.75 ₫149K	$12.75 MWK22,137.83	+121.8%
Average			+21.6%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 31.3% less for housing

	Vietnam	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.92 ₫231K	$61.21 MWK106K	+585.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$387.95 ₫10M	$384.08 MWK667K	-1.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$257.72 ₫7M	$99.97 MWK174K	-61.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$49.62 ₫1M	$27.53 MWK47,807.03	-44.5%
Average			-31.3%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 78.4% less for childcare

	Vietnam	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$321.30 ₫8M	$370.40 MWK643K	+15.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$14,628.65 ₫379M	$593.71 MWK1M	-95.9%
Average			-78.4%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 92.3% more for entertainment and sports

	Vietnam	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.91 ₫23,577	$1.64 MWK2,846.35	+80.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.63 ₫42,237	$2.97 MWK5,154.08	+81.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.36 ₫35,110	$2.40 MWK4,173.70	+77.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$20.59 ₫533K	$45.11 MWK78,336.01	+119.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.14 ₫81,316	??
Average			+92.3%

Vietnam vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 1.4% more for clothing

	Vietnam	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.00 ₫1M	$43.37 MWK75,316.66	+5.8%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$24.08 ₫623K	$39.87 MWK69,239.08	+65.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$76.97 ₫2M	$48.90 MWK84,923.42	-36.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$74.18 ₫2M	$70.38 MWK122K	-5.1%
Average			+1.4%

Vietnam 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: Vietnam vs. Malawi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Malawi?

Quality of Life Comparison · 22 statistics

Be 11.3 times more likely to live below the poverty line in Malawi

Size Comparison · See true size

Vietnam is about 2.8 times bigger than Malawi.

Moving from Vietnam to Malawi · Cost, visas & climate

Compare cost of living, salary and climate.

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