Cost of living comparison

 Tehran, Iran
compared to
 Lilongwe, Malawi
Lilongwe vs. Tehran Cost of Living Summary

Lilongwe is 2.2 times more expensive than Tehran.

Restaurants
pay 6.5% more in Lilongwe
Groceries
pay 2.3 times more in Lilongwe
Transportation
pay 38.2% more in Lilongwe
Housing
pay 4.6 times more in Lilongwe
Childcare
pay 2.1 times more in Lilongwe
Entertainment and Sports
pay 80.8% more in Lilongwe

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

Lilongwe vs. Tehran Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Lilongwe instead of Tehran, you would:

pay 6.5% more for restaurants

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $4.00
IRR169,000
$3.46
MWK5,995.72
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$5.00
IRR211,250
??
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $0.45
IRR19,178
$0.91
MWK1,585.70

Improve prices ·

pay 2.3 times more for groceries

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Bread
1 loaf
$0.53
IRR22,602
$1.41
MWK2,449.13
Local cheese (8 oz) $1.83
IRR77,272
$7.88
MWK13,655.19
Milk (1 gallon) $2.32
IRR98,152
$5.24
MWK9,073.23

Improve prices ·

pay 38.2% more for transportation

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Gasoline (1 gallon) $2.76
IRR116,458
$6.43
MWK11,138.40
Monthly public transit pass $10.00
IRR422,500
$4.32
MWK7,490.06
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $90,000.00
IRR3,802,500,000
??

Improve prices ·

pay 4.6 times more for housing

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$6.79
IRR286,962
$62.37
MWK108,084.91
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $489.72
IRR20,690,640
??
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $339.71
IRR14,352,610
$67.61
MWK117,172.64

Improve prices ·

pay 2.1 times more for childcare

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $123.20
IRR5,205,200
$350.00
MWK606,560.10
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $1,753.32
IRR74,077,693
$2,349.49
MWK4,071,727.11

Improve prices ·

pay 80.8% more for entertainment and sports

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $0.80
IRR33,800
$1.08
MWK1,871.99
Cappuccino in mid-range area $1.51
IRR63,638
$3.21
MWK5,561.36
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$2.50
IRR105,625
$1.59
MWK2,749.51

Improve prices ·

pay (unknown) more for clothing

 
Tehran
Lilongwe
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$36.21
IRR1,529,668
??
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$27.96
IRR1,181,502
??
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$138.01
IRR5,830,759
??

Improve prices ·
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: June 2025
Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Iran vs. Malawi. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Iran and Malawi.

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

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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