Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Ethiopia Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 23.0% more expensive than Ethiopia overall.

Restaurants: pay 3.6% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 4.1% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 2.2 times more in Malawi
Housing: pay 50.9% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 2.2 times more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 4.1% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 36.6% less in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Ethiopia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 3.6% more for restaurants

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$6.00 ETB764.91	$4.32 MWK7,482.20	-28.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$6.24 ETB794.90	$9.04 MWK15,657.73	+45.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.78 ETB100.08	$0.87 MWK1,509.52	+11.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.50 ETB64.02	$0.43 MWK749.43	-13.8%
Average			+3.6%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 4.1% more for groceries

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.20 ETB153.18	$1.36 MWK2,362.85	+13.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.85 ETB618.74	$4.82 MWK8,342.22	-0.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.08 ETB774.93	$4.51 MWK7,814.33	-25.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.65 ETB337.73	$2.31 MWK3,993.20	-12.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.65 ETB719.80	$1.93 MWK3,333.93	-65.9%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.30 ETB420.87	$1.03 MWK1,791.50	-68.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.51 ETB64.55	$0.81 MWK1,401.78	+59.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.08 ETB137.46	$1.12 MWK1,936.86	+3.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.39 ETB49.28	$0.53 MWK912.61	+36.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 ETB39.68	$0.72 MWK1,245.99	+131.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.79 ETB101.25	$0.59 MWK1,015.03	-26.2%
Average			+4.1%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.2 times more for transportation

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.88 ETB622.09	$6.19 MWK10,713.29	+26.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$10.00 ETB1,274.84	$4.32 MWK7,481.94	-56.8%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,000.00 ETB3,187,108.02	$35,669.17 MWK61,748,694.10	+42.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.67 ETB467.23	$20.40 MWK35,319.52	+456.7%
Average			+117.3%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.9% less for housing

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$171.17 ETB21,821.07	$186.12 MWK322,210.06	+8.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$645.10 ETB82,240.14	$202.19 MWK350,014.27	-68.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$422.74 ETB53,893.01	$98.76 MWK170,973.43	-76.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$124.84 ETB15,914.92	$41.29 MWK71,472.15	-66.9%
Average			-50.9%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 2.2 times more for childcare

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$81.47 ETB10,386.56	$354.75 MWK614,132.35	+335.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$43,916.67 ETB5,598,686.43	$1,467.81 MWK2,540,999.96	-96.7%
Average			+119.3%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 4.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.00 ETB127.48	$1.12 MWK1,937.90	+11.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.15 ETB146.57	$2.91 MWK5,042.71	+153.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.00 ETB509.94	$1.59 MWK2,746.53	-60.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$90.59 ETB11,549.44	$51.33 MWK88,865.37	-43.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.70 ETB854.14	$3.95 MWK6,839.01	-41.0%
Average			+4.1%

Ethiopia vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.6% less for clothing

	Ethiopia	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$48.33 ETB6,161.74	$45.22 MWK78,289.56	-6.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$75.17 ETB9,582.57	$34.94 MWK60,491.58	-53.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.84 ETB13,875.74	$59.17 MWK102,434.77	-45.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$119.32 ETB15,211.65	$70.71 MWK122,401.22	-40.7%
Average			-36.6%

Ethiopia 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: January 2025

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