Cost of living comparison

Malaysia

compared to

Nairobi, Kenya

Nairobi vs. Malaysia Cost of Living Summary

Nairobi is 15.7% more expensive than Malaysia overall.

Restaurants: pay 28.0% more in Nairobi
Groceries: pay 10.7% less in Nairobi
Transportation: pay 2.0 times more in Nairobi
Housing: pay 7.2% more in Nairobi
Childcare: pay 11.3% more in Nairobi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 0.6% more in Nairobi
Clothing: pay 26.6% less in Nairobi

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

Nairobi vs. Malaysia Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nairobi instead of Malaysia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 28.0% more for restaurants

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.98 MYR12.79	$3.85 KES498.05	+29.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.23 MYR18.16	$6.17 KES796.87	+45.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.68 MYR2.91	$0.66 KES85.65	-2.3%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 MYR1.64	$0.53 KES68.82	+39.3%
Average			+28.0%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 10.7% less for groceries

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.91 MYR3.92	$0.56 KES72.13	-38.8%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.65 MYR32.86	$5.59 KES722.48	-26.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.39 MYR27.44	$3.35 KES433.19	-47.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.97 MYR8.47	$1.70 KES220.07	-13.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.83 MYR7.86	$2.71 KES350.21	+48.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.17 MYR5.04	$1.26 KES163.33	+7.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 MYR2.45	$0.50 KES64.58	-12.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.21 MYR5.22	$0.87 KES112.93	-28.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.63 MYR2.71	$0.46 KES59.08	-27.7%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.43 MYR1.85	$0.48 KES62.36	+11.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.51 MYR2.19	$0.56 KES71.90	+9.3%
Average			-10.7%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.0 times more for transportation

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.77 MYR7.61	$6.17 KES798.05	+248.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$15.69 MYR67.38	$30.83 KES3,984.37	+96.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,330.57 MYR147,449.82	$19,266.80 KES2,490,233.99	-43.9%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$6.94 MYR29.79	$13.87 KES1,792.97	+100.0%
Average			+100.3%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of transportation

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pay 7.2% more for housing

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.31 MYR113.02	$39.39 KES5,091.51	+49.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$322.80 MYR1,386.44	$428.53 KES55,387.25	+32.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$212.35 MYR912.04	$166.44 KES21,511.79	-21.6%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$33.00 MYR141.73	$22.39 KES2,894.23	-32.1%
Average			+7.2%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of housing

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pay 11.3% more for childcare

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$163.68 MYR703.00	$166.67 KES21,542.71	+1.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,626.64 MYR28,461.42	$8,008.06 KES1,035,041.33	+20.8%
Average			+11.3%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of childcare

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pay 0.6% more for entertainment and sports

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.66 MYR15.71	$2.31 KES298.83	-36.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.54 MYR10.91	$2.24 KES289.63	-11.8%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.07 MYR17.46	$3.08 KES398.44	-24.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$36.32 MYR156.00	$44.12 KES5,702.13	+21.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.00 MYR17.17	$6.17 KES796.87	+54.2%
Average			+0.6%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 26.6% less for clothing

	Malaysia	Nairobi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$53.15 MYR228.27	$16.84 KES2,176.94	-68.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$30.13 MYR129.40	$22.95 KES2,966.15	-23.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$65.18 MYR279.93	$61.84 KES7,992.47	-5.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$57.93 MYR248.83	$52.50 KES6,785.85	-9.4%
Average			-26.6%

Malaysia vs. Nairobi - 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: May 2025

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