Cost of living comparison

Indonesia

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Indonesia Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 65.2% more expensive than Indonesia overall.

Restaurants: pay 91.2% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 11.6% more in Malawi
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Malawi
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 70.1% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.2% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 6.9% more in Malawi

The cost of housing, transportation, restaurants, childcare, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Malawi are more expensive than in Indonesia. Notably, housing, transportation, and restaurants are significantly more expensive in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Indonesia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 91.2% more for restaurants

	Indonesia	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.78 IDR29,881.10	$4.32 MWK7,494.49	+142.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$3.24 IDR54,205.02	$9.04 MWK15,683.46	+179.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.63 IDR10,543.20	$0.87 MWK1,512.00	+38.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.41 IDR6,918.06	$0.43 MWK750.66	+4.8%
Average			+91.2%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 11.6% more for groceries

	Indonesia	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.24 IDR20,804.97	$1.36 MWK2,366.74	+9.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.54 IDR76,007.65	$4.82 MWK8,355.93	+6.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.19 IDR86,957.68	$4.51 MWK7,827.17	-13.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.62 IDR27,157.51	$2.31 MWK3,999.76	+42.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.41 IDR23,571.88	$1.93 MWK3,339.41	+36.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 IDR19,636.83	$1.03 MWK1,794.45	-11.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.62 IDR10,378.55	$0.81 MWK1,404.08	+30.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.81 IDR13,597.59	$1.12 MWK1,940.04	+37.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 IDR9,098.85	$0.53 MWK914.11	-3.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 IDR9,411.51	$0.72 MWK1,248.04	+28.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.92 IDR15,470.79	$0.59 MWK1,016.70	-36.5%
Average			+11.6%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Indonesia	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.10 IDR51,911.07	$6.19 MWK10,730.89	+99.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$12.11 IDR202,752.86	$4.32 MWK7,494.23	-64.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$24,176.29 IDR404,831,964.08	$35,669.17 MWK61,850,147.98	+47.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.88 IDR65,041.95	$20.40 MWK35,377.55	+425.3%
Average			+127.0%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Indonesia	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.66 IDR446,499.04	$186.12 MWK322,739.46	+598.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$279.33 IDR4,677,346.24	$202.19 MWK350,589.35	-27.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$164.17 IDR2,749,078.49	$98.76 MWK171,254.34	-39.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$47.78 IDR800,149.30	$41.29 MWK71,589.58	-13.6%
Average			+129.2%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 70.1% more for childcare

	Indonesia	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$112.28 IDR1,880,069.37	$354.75 MWK615,141.38	+216.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,061.21 IDR101,494,980.15	$1,467.81 MWK2,545,174.85	-75.8%
Average			+70.1%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Indonesia	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.74 IDR45,938.02	$1.12 MWK1,941.09	-59.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.71 IDR28,683.33	$2.91 MWK5,051.00	+70.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.18 IDR36,433.12	$1.59 MWK2,751.05	-27.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$26.72 IDR447,461.03	$51.33 MWK89,011.38	+92.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.16 IDR52,860.95	$3.95 MWK6,850.25	+25.1%
Average			+20.2%

Indonesia vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 6.9% more for clothing

	Indonesia	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$41.98 IDR702,986.06	$45.22 MWK78,418.19	+7.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$27.98 IDR468,593.75	$34.94 MWK60,590.97	+24.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$68.38 IDR1,145,096.73	$59.17 MWK102,603.07	-13.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$65.14 IDR1,090,693.50	$70.71 MWK122,602.32	+8.6%
Average			+6.9%

Indonesia 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: April 2025

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