NavoyNostos

Lilongwe vs Nosy Be

for digital nomads

Under balanced weights Nosy Be edges it, 44 to 44, winning 5 of the 9 factors. Lilongwe is stronger on safety, healthcare; Nosy Be on air quality. Change the weights in the ranker to see which one wins for you.

Safety: 8.0 of 44 points (scores 64/100)Healthcare: 4.8 of 44 points (scores 38/100)Internet: 4.8 of 44 points (scores 39/100)Visa ease: 4.2 of 44 points (scores 33/100)Getting there & around: 3.0 of 44 points (scores 24/100)Climate: 8.3 of 44 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 9.6 of 44 points (scores 76/100)Quality of life: 1.1 of 44 points (scores 9/100)44
Lilongwe
out of 100

Malawi's spread-out garden capital, cheap and unhurried

Full Lilongwe profile →Where to stay in Lilongwe →
Safety: 5.9 of 44 points (scores 47/100)Healthcare: 3.5 of 44 points (scores 28/100)Internet: 5.5 of 44 points (scores 44/100)Visa ease: 4.3 of 44 points (scores 34/100)Getting there & around: 3.0 of 44 points (scores 24/100)Climate: 8.3 of 44 points (scores 67/100)Air quality: 12.5 of 44 points (scores 100/100)Quality of life: 1.3 of 44 points (scores 11/100)44
Nosy Be
out of 100

Madagascar's resort island of ylang-ylang, lemurs and Italian tourism

Full Nosy Be profile →Where to stay in Nosy Be →

Factor scores (0–100, balanced weights)

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Cost of livingno datano data
Safety64 ✓47
Healthcare38 ✓28
Internet3944 ✓
Visa ease3334 ✓
Getting there & around2424 ✓
Climate6767
Air quality76100 ✓
Quality of life911 ✓

Cost

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Monthly cost, one personcountry-level estimate for at least one cityno datano data
Central one-bedroom rentno datano data

Safety and health (country-level)

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Homicides per 100k1.9 ✓6.1
Political stability (0–100)62.7 ✓56.4
UHC service coverage (0–100)52 ✓33
Life expectancy62.5 yrs62.9 yrs ✓

Internet (M-Lab measured medians)

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Download8.4 Mbps9 Mbps ✓
Upload1.6 Mbps4.9 Mbps ✓

Visa

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Nomad visanone listednone listed
Minimum income for the visano datano data
Entry, US passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, EU passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓
Entry, UK passport30 daysvisa on arrival ✓

Getting there and around

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Non-stop airport destinations11 ✓7
Walkability (1–5, editorial)12 ✓
Transit (1–5, editorial)11

Climate and air

MetricLilongweNosy Be
Comfortable months per year88
Annual mean PM2.515.6 µg/m³5.1 µg/m³ ✓

✓ marks the better value in each row; ties and missing data are left unmarked.

Frequently asked

Which is cheaper, Lilongwe or Nosy Be?
We lack a monthly cost figure for one of the two cities.
Is Lilongwe or Nosy Be safer?
Lilongwe scores higher on safety (64 vs 47), based on national homicide rates and World Bank political-stability scores.
Where is the internet faster, Lilongwe or Nosy Be?
Nosy Be: a measured median of 9 Mbps versus 8.4 Mbps (M-Lab, 2024).

More comparisons

Sources: Cost of Living Global 2026 (city rows); 2026 Cost of Living Index (country level); Digital Nomad Visas 2026; Worldwide Governance Indicators — Political Stability and Absence of Violence (score 0–100); Estimates of rates of homicides per 100 000 population; UHC service coverage index; Life expectancy at birth (years), both sexes; M-Lab NDT statistics (city aggregates, 2024); Airport destinations (Wikipedia airline and destination tables); NASA POWER climatology (2001–2020 monthly means); SatPM2.5 satellite-derived annual PM2.5 (V6.GL.02.04); Human Development Index (HDR 2025, HDI 2023); EF English Proficiency Index 2024 (band); Walkability and transit ratings (editorial); Passport Index dataset (visa requirements, 199 passports × 199 destinations); OpenStreetMap restaurants (Overpass API); Starlink availability map. Dataset 2026.10.7. See each city page for per-metric footnotes and the methodology.