Cost of living comparison

Papua New Guinea

compared to

Malawi

Malawi vs. Papua New Guinea Cost of Living Summary

Malawi is 27.8% cheaper than Papua New Guinea overall.

Restaurants: pay 21.3% less in Malawi
Groceries: pay 26.3% less in Malawi
Transportation: pay 0.1% more in Malawi
Housing: pay 65.5% less in Malawi
Childcare: pay 47.8% less in Malawi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 23.1% less in Malawi
Clothing: pay 10.7% less in Malawi

Expenses including housing, childcare, groceries, entertainment and sports, restaurants, and clothing are lower in Malawi.

Malawi vs. Papua New Guinea Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Malawi instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 21.3% less for restaurants

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$12.38 PGK51.03	$4.32 MWK7,494.74	-65.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.43 PGK30.62	$9.04 MWK15,683.98	+21.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.80 PGK3.28	$0.87 MWK1,512.05	+9.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.89 PGK3.67	$0.43 MWK750.69	-51.4%
Average			-21.3%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 26.3% less for groceries

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Bread 1 loaf	$1.49 PGK6.12	$1.36 MWK2,366.81	-8.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.20 PGK9.06	$4.82 MWK8,356.21	+119.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.01 PGK28.91	$4.51 MWK7,827.43	-35.7%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.68 PGK15.19	$2.31 MWK3,999.89	-37.4%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.28 PGK13.50	$1.93 MWK3,339.52	-41.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.56 PGK6.41	$1.03 MWK1,794.51	-33.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.19 PGK4.92	$0.81 MWK1,404.13	-32.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.74 PGK7.18	$1.12 MWK1,940.10	-35.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.02 PGK8.33	$0.53 MWK914.14	-73.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.57 PGK6.48	$0.72 MWK1,248.08	-54.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.37 PGK5.63	$0.59 MWK1,016.74	-57.1%
Average			-26.3%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.1% more for transportation

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.29 PGK17.68	$6.19 MWK10,731.25	+44.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.69 PGK68.78	$4.32 MWK7,494.48	-74.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,877.21 PGK106,653.16	$35,669.17 MWK61,852,226.56	+37.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$22.04 PGK90.83	$20.40 MWK35,378.74	-7.4%
Average			+0.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 65.5% less for housing

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$309.54 PGK1,275.76	$186.12 MWK322,750.31	-39.9%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,346.03 PGK9,669.21	$202.19 MWK350,601.13	-91.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$609.17 PGK2,510.69	$98.76 MWK171,260.10	-83.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$78.11 PGK321.94	$41.29 MWK71,591.98	-47.1%
Average			-65.5%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.8% less for childcare

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$494.23 PGK2,036.96	$354.75 MWK615,162.05	-28.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$4,498.59 PGK18,540.98	$1,467.81 MWK2,545,260.39	-67.4%
Average			-47.8%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.1% less for entertainment and sports

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.48 PGK10.21	$1.12 MWK1,941.15	-54.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.83 PGK7.55	$2.91 MWK5,051.17	+59.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.48 PGK30.82	$1.59 MWK2,751.14	-78.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.19 PGK186.26	$51.33 MWK89,014.37	+13.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.67 PGK35.72	$3.95 MWK6,850.48	-54.4%
Average			-23.1%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.7% less for clothing

	Papua New Guinea	Malawi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$39.25 PGK161.77	$45.22 MWK78,420.83	+15.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.57 PGK183.71	$34.94 MWK60,593.01	-21.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$64.38 PGK265.36	$59.17 MWK102,606.51	-8.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.43 PGK405.69	$70.71 MWK122,606.44	-28.2%
Average			-10.7%

Papua New Guinea vs. Malawi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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: April 2025

More cost comparisons

Papua New Guinea vs.

Peru

Papua New Guinea vs.

Germany

Papua New Guinea vs.

Greece

Papua New Guinea vs.

France

Papua New Guinea vs.

Canada

Papua New Guinea vs.

Australia

Papua New Guinea vs.

Thailand

Papua New Guinea vs.

Poland

Share this

Compare by city

For example, try comparing the cost of living in Port Moresby vs. Lilongwe

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Papua New Guinea

Add prices for Malawi

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Malawi or Papua New Guinea. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.

Ask a question about Papua New Guinea

Ask a question about Malawi