Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Cook Islands Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 12.8% cheaper than Cook Islands overall.

Restaurants: pay 47.6% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 39.6% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 33.1% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 6.0% more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 2.4% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 25.6% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 18.1% less in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Cook Islands Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 47.6% less for restaurants

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.96 NZ$15.63	$4.32 MWK7,472.10	-51.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.21 NZ$14.32	$9.04 MWK15,636.60	+10.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.84 NZ$4.95	$0.87 MWK1,507.49	-69.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.09 NZ$3.65	$0.43 MWK748.42	-79.3%
Average			-47.6%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 39.6% less for groceries

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$3.22 NZ$5.61	$1.36 MWK2,359.67	-57.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.15 NZ$8.99	$4.82 MWK8,330.97	-6.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.63 NZ$13.31	$4.51 MWK7,803.79	-40.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.76 NZ$10.05	$2.31 MWK3,987.81	-60.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.52 NZ$6.14	$1.93 MWK3,329.43	-45.3%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.35 NZ$2.35	$1.03 MWK1,789.08	-23.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$0.81 MWK1,399.88	-25.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.62 NZ$2.82	$1.12 MWK1,934.24	-30.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.84 NZ$4.96	$0.53 MWK911.37	-81.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.08 NZ$1.89	$0.72 MWK1,244.31	-33.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.85 NZ$1.49	$0.59 MWK1,013.66	-31.3%
Average			-39.6%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 33.1% more for transportation

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.79 NZ$11.85	$6.19 MWK10,698.83	-8.9%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$4.32 MWK7,471.84
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$11,944.29 NZ$20,836.10	$35,669.17 MWK61,665,381.09	+198.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$212.01 NZ$369.84	$20.40 MWK35,271.86	-90.4%
Average			+33.1%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 6.0% more for housing

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$104.21 NZ$181.79	$186.12 MWK321,775.33	+78.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$155.28 NZ$270.87	$202.19 MWK349,542.03	+30.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$155.28 NZ$270.87	$98.76 MWK170,742.75	-36.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$79.92 NZ$139.42	$41.29 MWK71,375.72	-48.3%
Average			+6.0%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.4% more for childcare

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	??	$354.75 MWK613,303.75
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,433.32 NZ$2,500.33	$1,467.81 MWK2,537,571.57	+2.4%
Average			+2.4%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 25.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$5.23 NZ$9.12	$1.12 MWK1,935.29	-78.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.83 NZ$6.68	$2.91 MWK5,035.91	-24.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.93 NZ$26.05	$1.59 MWK2,742.83	-89.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.88 NZ$43.41	$51.33 MWK88,745.47	+106.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.87 NZ$11.98	$3.95 MWK6,829.78	-42.5%
Average			-25.6%

Cook Islands vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.1% less for clothing

	Cook Islands	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.89 NZ$116.68	$45.22 MWK78,183.93	-32.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$34.94 MWK60,409.97
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$59.17 MWK102,296.56
Men's business shoes (leather)	$73.46 NZ$128.14	$70.71 MWK122,236.07	-3.7%
Average			-18.1%

Cook Islands 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: February 2025

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