Cost of living comparison

Lilongwe, Malawi

compared to

Antananarivo, Madagascar

Antananarivo vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Antananarivo is 20.8% more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 32.4% more in Antananarivo
Groceries: pay 27.1% less in Antananarivo
Transportation: pay 28.8% less in Antananarivo
Housing: pay 23.2% less in Antananarivo
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Antananarivo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 18.4% more in Antananarivo

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

Antananarivo vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Antananarivo instead of Lilongwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 32.4% more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.46 MWK5,972.65	$3.22 MGA14,490	-6.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$4.30 MGA19,320
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 MWK1,579.60	$1.16 MGA5,216	+26.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 MWK586.87	$0.60 MGA2,710	+77.3%
Average			+32.4%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 27.1% less for groceries

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 MWK2,439.71	$1.19 MGA5,365	-15.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,602.67	$5.22 MGA23,460	-33.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.24 MWK9,038.33	$3.94 MGA17,731	-24.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.06 MWK5,274.19	$1.80 MGA8,114	-40.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.30 MWK2,235.64	$2.10 MGA9,421	+61.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 MWK1,838.83	$0.65 MGA2,921	-39.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,022.74	$0.27 MGA1,214	-54.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$0.51 MGA2,300
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK973.25	$0.33 MGA1,497	-40.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 MWK1,444.20	$0.35 MGA1,556	-58.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK973.12	$0.42 MGA1,906	-24.8%
Average			-27.1%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of groceries

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pay 28.8% less for transportation

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.43 MWK11,095.56	$4.58 MGA20,569	-28.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,461.25	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$11,817.99 MGA53,130,163
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$12.46 MGA56,028
Average			-28.8%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.2% less for housing

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.37 MWK107,669.19	$52.31 MGA235,153	-16.1%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$354.54 MGA1,593,905
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$67.61 MWK116,721.97	$53.69 MGA241,384	-20.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.53 MWK92,411.21	$35.96 MGA161,679	-32.8%
Average			-23.2%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK604,227.13	$89.71 MGA403,306	-74.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,349.49 MWK4,056,066.30	$11,292.35 MGA50,767,037	+380.6%
Average			+153.1%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of childcare

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pay 18.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.08 MWK1,864.79	$1.07 MGA4,830	-0.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,539.97	$1.12 MGA5,023	-65.2%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,738.94	$3.22 MGA14,490	+103.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.05 MWK76,051.24	$40.29 MGA181,126	-8.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,820.10	$6.45 MGA28,980	+63.2%
Average			+18.4%

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Antananarivo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$19.71 MGA88,610
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$24.89 MGA111,895
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$90.25 MGA405,721
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$78.79 MGA354,201

Lilongwe vs. Antananarivo - 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 2025

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