Cost of living comparison

compared to

Costa Rica vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Costa Rica is 2.6 times more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 2.3 times more in Costa Rica
Groceries: pay 54.1% more in Costa Rica
Transportation: pay 3.5 times more in Costa Rica
Housing: pay 2.8 times more in Costa Rica
Childcare: pay 4.5 times more in Costa Rica
Entertainment and Sports: pay 98.4% more in Costa Rica
Clothing: pay 49.0% more in Costa Rica

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

Costa Rica vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Costa Rica instead of Malawi, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 2.3 times more for restaurants

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.32 MWK7,482.20	$9.75 CRC4,960.41	+125.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.04 MWK15,657.73	$9.08 CRC4,621.51	+0.4%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 MWK1,509.52	$2.01 CRC1,023.18	+130.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 MWK749.43	$1.49 CRC759.04	+244.5%
Average			+125.2%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.1% more for groceries

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 MWK2,362.85	$2.53 CRC1,288.62	+85.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 MWK8,342.22	$3.76 CRC1,914.83	-21.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 MWK7,814.33	$6.98 CRC3,550.00	+54.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK3,993.20	$3.21 CRC1,634.68	+39.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MWK3,333.93	$3.97 CRC2,020.77	+106.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,791.50	$1.79 CRC910.60	+72.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,401.78	$0.62 CRC313.93	-23.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 MWK1,936.86	$1.22 CRC619.02	+8.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK912.61	$1.22 CRC621.69	+131.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 MWK1,245.99	$1.09 CRC556.88	+52.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,015.03	$1.11 CRC566.77	+89.9%
Average			+54.1%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.5 times more for transportation

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.19 MWK10,713.29	$5.63 CRC2,863.57	-9.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,481.94	$49.00 CRC24,935.34	+1033.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,669.17 MWK61,748,694.10	$35,063.37 CRC17,843,584.03	-1.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.40 MWK35,319.52	$15.62 CRC7,950.08	-23.4%
Average			+249.9%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8 times more for housing

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$186.12 MWK322,210.06	$48.50 CRC24,681.64	-73.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$202.19 MWK350,014.27	$778.04 CRC395,939.69	+284.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$98.76 MWK170,973.43	$547.50 CRC278,621.84	+454.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.29 MWK71,472.15	$68.26 CRC34,736.03	+65.3%
Average			+182.7%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of housing

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pay 4.5 times more for childcare

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.75 MWK614,132.35	$519.07 CRC264,151.03	+46.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,467.81 MWK2,540,999.96	$10,987.74 CRC5,591,610.53	+648.6%
Average			+347.4%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of childcare

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pay 98.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MWK1,937.90	$2.73 CRC1,387.84	+143.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MWK5,042.71	$3.65 CRC1,859.63	+25.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,746.53	$4.58 CRC2,331.92	+188.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.33 MWK88,865.37	$59.46 CRC30,259.21	+15.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,839.01	$8.63 CRC4,389.69	+118.3%
Average			+98.4%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 49.0% more for clothing

	Malawi	Costa Rica
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.22 MWK78,289.56	$65.32 CRC33,242.90	+44.4%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.94 MWK60,491.58	$44.54 CRC22,666.37	+27.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.17 MWK102,434.77	$110.39 CRC56,174.67	+86.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.71 MWK122,401.22	$97.22 CRC49,473.20	+37.5%
Average			+49.0%

Malawi vs. Costa Rica - 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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