Cost of living comparison

Lilongwe, Malawi

compared to

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Port Moresby vs. Lilongwe Cost of Living Summary

Port Moresby is 2.6 times more expensive than Lilongwe.

Restaurants: pay 2.4 times more in Port Moresby
Groceries: pay 77.7% more in Port Moresby
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Port Moresby
Housing: pay 5.1 times more in Port Moresby
Childcare: pay 66.3% more in Port Moresby
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Port Moresby

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

Port Moresby vs. Lilongwe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Port Moresby instead of Lilongwe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.4 times more for restaurants

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.46 MWK6,002.48	$12.38 PGK51.79	+257.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	??	$7.43 PGK31.08
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.91 MWK1,587.49	$0.80 PGK3.33	-13.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.34 MWK589.80	$0.89 PGK3.73	+162.2%
Average			+135.7%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of restaurants

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pay 77.7% more for groceries

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Bread 1 loaf	$1.41 MWK2,451.89	$1.49 PGK6.22	+5.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.88 MWK13,670.60	$2.20 PGK9.19	-72.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.24 MWK9,083.47	$7.01 PGK29.34	+34.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.06 MWK5,300.53	$3.68 PGK15.41	+20.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.30 MWK2,246.81	$3.28 PGK13.70	+153.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.07 MWK1,848.02	$1.56 PGK6.51	+46.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,027.85	$1.19 PGK5.00	+101.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	??	$1.74 PGK7.29
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK978.11	$2.02 PGK8.46	+258.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.84 MWK1,451.41	$1.57 PGK6.58	+88.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.56 MWK977.98	$1.37 PGK5.72	+142.4%
Average			+77.7%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.43 MWK11,150.97	$4.29 PGK17.94	-33.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,498.51	$16.69 PGK69.81	+286.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	??	$25,877.21 PGK108,250.93
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	??	$22.04 PGK92.19
Average			+126.4%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of transportation

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pay 5.1 times more for housing

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$62.37 MWK108,206.92	$309.54 PGK1,294.87	+396.3%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	??	$2,346.03 PGK9,814.06
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$67.61 MWK117,304.91	$609.17 PGK2,548.30	+801.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$53.53 MWK92,872.74	$78.11 PGK326.76	+45.9%
Average			+414.4%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of housing

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pay 66.3% more for childcare

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$350.00 MWK607,244.81	$494.23 PGK2,067.47	+41.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,349.49 MWK4,076,323.44	$4,498.59 PGK18,818.74	+91.5%
Average			+66.3%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.08 MWK1,874.10	$2.48 PGK10.36	+129.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.21 MWK5,567.64	$1.83 PGK7.67	-42.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,752.62	$7.48 PGK31.28	+371.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.05 MWK76,431.06	$45.19 PGK189.05	+2.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,854.16	$8.67 PGK36.26	+119.4%
Average			+115.9%

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay (unknown) more for clothing

	Lilongwe	Port Moresby
Regular jeans Levi's brand	??	$39.25 PGK164.19
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	??	$44.57 PGK186.46
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	??	$64.38 PGK269.33
Men's business shoes (leather)	??	$98.43 PGK411.77

Lilongwe vs. Port Moresby - 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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See the cost of living in Malawi vs. Papua New Guinea. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Malawi and Papua New Guinea.

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