Cost of living comparison

compared to

Malawi vs. Mongolia Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 45.4% more expensive than Mongolia overall.

Restaurants: pay 14.6% more in Malawi
Groceries: pay 1.6% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 77.8% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 3.5 times more in Malawi
Childcare: pay 25.5% more in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.8% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 36.6% less in Malawi

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

Malawi vs. Mongolia Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 14.6% more for restaurants

	Mongolia	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.08 MNT17,250.00	$4.32 MWK7,472.10	-14.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.86 MNT16,500.00	$9.04 MWK15,636.60	+86.3%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 MNT2,852.94	$0.87 MWK1,507.49	+3.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.52 MNT1,773.33	$0.43 MWK748.42	-17.0%
Average			+14.6%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.6% less for groceries

	Mongolia	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$0.92 MNT3,124.01	$1.36 MWK2,359.67	+48.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.82 MNT23,187.50	$4.82 MWK8,330.97	-29.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.44 MNT18,498.60	$4.51 MWK7,803.79	-17.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.21 MNT7,518.68	$2.31 MWK3,987.81	+4.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.04 MNT6,945.64	$1.93 MWK3,329.43	-5.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT5,745.51	$1.03 MWK1,789.08	-38.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.30 MNT4,430.09	$0.81 MWK1,399.88	-37.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.91 MNT6,503.39	$1.12 MWK1,934.24	-41.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.47 MNT5,003.13	$0.53 MWK911.37	-64.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 MNT1,037.72	$0.72 MWK1,244.31	+135.7%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.46 MNT1,547.26	$0.59 MWK1,013.66	+28.8%
Average			-1.6%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

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pay 77.8% more for transportation

	Mongolia	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.00 MNT13,586.19	$6.19 MWK10,698.83	+54.8%
Monthly public transit pass	$8.09 MNT27,500.00	$4.32 MWK7,471.84	-46.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$30,311.95 MNT103,000,000.00	$35,669.17 MWK61,665,381.09	+17.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.30 MNT18,000.00	$20.40 MWK35,271.86	+285.2%
Average			+77.8%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.5 times more for housing

	Mongolia	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.66 MNT49,800.00	$186.12 MWK321,775.33	+1170.0%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$559.15 MNT1,900,000.00	$202.19 MWK349,542.03	-63.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$428.82 MNT1,457,142.86	$98.76 MWK170,742.75	-77.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$58.64 MNT199,261.01	$41.29 MWK71,375.72	-29.6%
Average			+249.9%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

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pay 25.5% more for childcare

	Mongolia	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$153.03 MNT520,000.00	$354.75 MWK613,303.75	+131.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,690.11 MNT26,131,000.00	$1,467.81 MWK2,537,571.57	-80.9%
Average			+25.5%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Mongolia	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.77 MNT6,000.00	$1.12 MWK1,935.29	-36.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.52 MNT8,557.14	$2.91 MWK5,035.91	+15.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.77 MNT6,000.00	$1.59 MWK2,742.83	-10.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$59.96 MNT203,750.00	$51.33 MWK88,745.47	-14.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.56 MNT15,500.00	$3.95 MWK6,829.78	-13.4%
Average			-11.8%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 36.6% less for clothing

	Mongolia	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$66.51 MNT226,000.00	$45.22 MWK78,183.93	-32.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$50.62 MNT171,999.80	$34.94 MWK60,409.97	-31.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$88.29 MNT300,000.00	$59.17 MWK102,296.56	-33.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$142.24 MNT483,333.33	$70.71 MWK122,236.07	-50.3%
Average			-36.6%

Mongolia vs. Malawi - 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: February 2025

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