Cost of living comparison

Malawi

compared to

Nigeria

Nigeria vs. Malawi Cost of Living Summary

Nigeria is 26.5% more expensive than Malawi overall.

Restaurants: pay 45.4% less in Nigeria
Groceries: pay 18.3% more in Nigeria
Transportation: pay 2.5 times more in Nigeria
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Nigeria
Childcare: pay 27.0% less in Nigeria
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.6% less in Nigeria
Clothing: pay 25.1% less in Nigeria

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

Nigeria vs. Malawi Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 45.4% less for restaurants

	Malawi	Nigeria
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.32 MWK7,494.74	$2.61 NGN3,998.49	-39.6%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.04 MWK15,683.98	$5.61 NGN8,587.38	-38.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 MWK1,512.05	$0.38 NGN582.47	-56.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.43 MWK750.69	$0.23 NGN346.56	-47.7%
Average			-45.4%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of restaurants

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pay 18.3% more for groceries

	Malawi	Nigeria
Bread 1 loaf	$1.36 MWK2,366.81	$1.27 NGN1,941.39	-7.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.82 MWK8,356.21	$2.51 NGN3,850.61	-47.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.51 MWK7,827.43	$9.86 NGN15,100.71	+118.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.31 MWK3,999.89	$1.87 NGN2,870.20	-18.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.93 MWK3,339.52	$2.04 NGN3,117.42	+5.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 MWK1,794.51	$1.75 NGN2,677.92	+68.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 MWK1,404.13	$0.90 NGN1,382.76	+11.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.12 MWK1,940.10	$0.73 NGN1,122.36	-34.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.53 MWK914.14	$0.79 NGN1,206.74	+49.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.72 MWK1,248.08	$0.82 NGN1,252.86	+13.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 MWK1,016.74	$0.83 NGN1,278.16	+42.3%
Average			+18.3%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.5 times more for transportation

	Malawi	Nigeria
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.19 MWK10,731.25	$2.41 NGN3,689.76	-61.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$4.32 MWK7,494.48	$36.26 NGN55,532.03	+738.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$35,669.17 MWK61,852,226.56	$16,757.94 NGN25,667,969.48	-53.0%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.40 MWK35,378.74	$12.54 NGN19,203.60	-38.5%
Average			+146.6%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Malawi	Nigeria
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$186.12 MWK322,750.31	$29.99 NGN45,942.11	-83.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$202.19 MWK350,601.13	$731.80 NGN1,120,891.53	+261.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$98.76 MWK171,260.10	$456.14 NGN698,669.62	+361.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$41.29 MWK71,591.98	$18.28 NGN28,001.93	-55.7%
Average			+121.0%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of housing

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pay 27.0% less for childcare

	Malawi	Nigeria
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$354.75 MWK615,162.05	$85.98 NGN131,698.43	-75.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$1,467.81 MWK2,545,260.39	$1,787.42 NGN2,737,780.36	+21.8%
Average			-27.0%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Malawi	Nigeria
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.12 MWK1,941.15	$0.91 NGN1,386.79	-19.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.91 MWK5,051.17	$2.04 NGN3,118.16	-30.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.59 MWK2,751.14	$1.60 NGN2,449.81	+0.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$51.33 MWK89,014.37	$36.79 NGN56,353.07	-28.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.95 MWK6,850.48	$6.47 NGN9,905.28	+63.7%
Average			-2.6%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.1% less for clothing

	Malawi	Nigeria
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$45.22 MWK78,420.83	$17.81 NGN27,284.75	-60.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$34.94 MWK60,593.01	$28.83 NGN44,165.17	-17.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$59.17 MWK102,606.51	$57.22 NGN87,639.93	-3.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$70.71 MWK122,606.44	$57.36 NGN87,862.97	-18.9%
Average			-25.1%

Malawi vs. Nigeria - 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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