Cost of living comparison

Zambia

compared to

Madagascar

Madagascar vs. Zambia Cost of Living Summary

Madagascar is 3.7% cheaper than Zambia overall.

Restaurants: pay 43.9% more in Madagascar
Groceries: pay 13.6% less in Madagascar
Transportation: pay 34.7% more in Madagascar
Housing: pay 14.0% less in Madagascar
Childcare: pay 49.9% less in Madagascar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.1% less in Madagascar
Clothing: pay 9.0% less in Madagascar

The cost of restaurants and transportation in Madagascar are more expensive than in Zambia. Expenses including childcare, entertainment and sports, housing, groceries, and clothing are lower in Madagascar.

Madagascar vs. Zambia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Madagascar instead of Zambia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 43.9% more for restaurants

	Zambia	Madagascar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.35 ZMW135.66	$3.04 MGA12,743	-58.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.72 ZMW68.59	$4.73 MGA19,818	+27.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 ZMW9.04	$0.82 MGA3,435	+67.2%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.26 ZMW4.79	$0.62 MGA2,608	+139.9%
Average			+43.9%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of restaurants

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pay 13.6% less for groceries

	Zambia	Madagascar
Bread 1 loaf	$0.77 ZMW14.16	$0.88 MGA3,673	+14.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$3.76 ZMW69.41	$5.36 MGA22,466	+42.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.89 ZMW90.25	$3.89 MGA16,293	-20.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.53 ZMW28.29	$1.97 MGA8,257	+28.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.78 ZMW32.91	$2.63 MGA11,039	+47.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.90 ZMW16.54	$0.64 MGA2,685	-28.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.73 ZMW13.44	$0.33 MGA1,391	-54.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.22 ZMW22.56	$0.57 MGA2,371	-53.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.50 ZMW9.22	$0.41 MGA1,713	-18.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.89 ZMW16.34	$0.29 MGA1,201	-67.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.67 ZMW12.35	$0.40 MGA1,696	-39.5%
Average			-13.6%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of groceries

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pay 34.7% more for transportation

	Zambia	Madagascar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.58 ZMW84.44	$4.44 MGA18,603	-3.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$38.52 ZMW710.70	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$8,004.53 ZMW148K	$12,651.72 MGA53M	+58.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$11.53 ZMW212.80	$17.17 MGA71,943	+48.9%
Average			+34.7%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of transportation

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pay 14.0% less for housing

	Zambia	Madagascar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$118.37 ZMW2,184.07	$60.23 MGA252K	-49.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$176.52 ZMW3,257.04	$257.49 MGA1M	+45.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$115.74 ZMW2,135.47	$71.69 MGA300K	-38.1%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$52.70 ZMW972.45	$44.95 MGA188K	-14.7%
Average			-14.0%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of housing

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pay 49.9% less for childcare

	Zambia	Madagascar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$176.79 ZMW3,261.99	$46.54 MGA195K	-73.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,677.88 ZMW215K	$8,634.52 MGA36M	-26.1%
Average			-49.9%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Zambia	Madagascar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.98 ZMW18.02	$0.82 MGA3,421	-16.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 ZMW37.77	$1.33 MGA5,570	-35.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.67 ZMW67.80	$1.73 MGA7,265	-52.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$50.47 ZMW931.21	$29.94 MGA125K	-40.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.18 ZMW77.21	$6.47 MGA27,124	+54.7%
Average			-18.1%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.0% less for clothing

	Zambia	Madagascar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$18.93 ZMW349.23	$19.48 MGA81,608	+2.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$16.99 ZMW313.49	$17.20 MGA72,088	+1.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$84.33 ZMW1,555.97	$70.84 MGA297K	-16.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.12 ZMW1,349.22	$55.48 MGA232K	-24.1%
Average			-9.0%

Zambia vs. Madagascar - 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: June 2026

Compare further: Zambia vs. Madagascar

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Madagascar?

Quality of Life Comparison · 13 statistics

Make 54.1% less money in Madagascar

Size Comparison · See true size

Zambia is about 1.3 times bigger than Madagascar.

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