Cost of living comparison

Laos

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Laos Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 71.0% more expensive than Laos overall.

Restaurants: pay 64.6% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 1.1% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 15.5% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 5.4 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 31.1% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.1% more in Malawi
Clothing: pay 10.9% less in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Laos Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 64.6% more for restaurants

	Laos	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$1.90 LAK41,112	$4.32 MWK7,494.74	+127.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.20 LAK91,113	$9.04 MWK15,683.98	+115.1%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.69 LAK14,961	$0.87 MWK1,512.05	+26.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.49 LAK10,522	$0.43 MWK750.69	-10.8%
Average			+64.6%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.1% less for groceries

	Laos	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 LAK21,721	$1.36 MWK2,366.81	+36.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$13.03 LAK282,392	$4.82 MWK8,356.21	-63.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.40 LAK138,699	$4.51 MWK7,827.43	-29.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.06 LAK44,745	$2.31 MWK3,999.89	+11.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.07 LAK44,859	$1.93 MWK3,339.52	-7.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.75 LAK16,146	$1.03 MWK1,794.51	+38.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.74 LAK16,075	$0.81 MWK1,404.13	+9.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.96 LAK20,745	$1.12 MWK1,940.10	+16.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.29 LAK27,937	$0.53 MWK914.14	-59.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 LAK15,062	$0.72 MWK1,248.08	+3.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.45 LAK9,796	$0.59 MWK1,016.74	+29.7%
Average			-1.1%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 15.5% more for transportation

	Laos	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.61 LAK99,800	$6.19 MWK10,731.25	+34.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$53.85 LAK1,166,949	$4.32 MWK7,494.48	-92.0%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,167.89 LAK610,380,007	$35,669.17 MWK61,852,226.56	+26.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 LAK229,122	$20.40 MWK35,378.74	+93.0%
Average			+15.5%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.4 times more for housing

	Laos	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$8.98 LAK194,666	$186.12 MWK322,750.31	+1971.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$993.83 LAK21,535,611	$202.19 MWK350,601.13	-79.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$809.30 LAK17,537,087	$98.76 MWK171,260.10	-87.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.85 LAK1,275,144	$41.29 MWK71,591.98	-29.8%
Average			+443.7%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 31.1% less for childcare

	Laos	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$291.32 LAK6,312,816	$354.75 MWK615,162.05	+21.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,140.14 LAK198,061,034	$1,467.81 MWK2,545,260.39	-83.9%
Average			-31.1%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Laos	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.11 LAK23,965	$1.12 MWK1,941.15	+1.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 LAK35,083	$2.91 MWK5,051.17	+79.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.78 LAK38,667	$1.59 MWK2,751.14	-11.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.31 LAK1,436,934	$51.33 MWK89,014.37	-22.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.97 LAK64,401	$3.95 MWK6,850.48	+32.9%
Average			+16.1%

Laos vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 10.9% less for clothing

	Laos	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.60 LAK1,703,174	$45.22 MWK78,420.83	-42.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.45 LAK1,331,521	$34.94 MWK60,593.01	-43.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.22 LAK1,413,263	$59.17 MWK102,606.51	-9.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$46.67 LAK1,011,309	$70.71 MWK122,606.44	+51.5%
Average			-10.9%

Laos 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: March 2025

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