In-Depth Analysis
Malawi
Malawi is one of Africa’s most impoverished countries and faces significant macro- and socio-economic challenges. The country is still undiversified, with its agricultural sector playing a large role in the country’s growth and development. Corruption perceptions are still a cause for concern for the economy, but donor support is slowly improving.
As Malawi entered the new year, a sliver of sunshine began to gleam due to a good start to the 2021 tobacco marketing season and expectations for a bumper maize harvest. The country experienced a surge in confirmed new Covid-19 cases at the start of the year, which prompted the implementation of new lockdown measures to try and curb the spread of the virus. The Malawian government began its vaccination roll-out programme in March, which started off well, but vaccine hesitancy among Malawians has now caused the roll-out to be postponed. Overall, we project the economy to expand by 3.1% over the 2021-24 period. (Source: Malawi Quarterly Update, published May 2021.)
Macroeconomic Data
(2020)
|
Fiscal Balance (as a % of GDP) |
-11.7 |
|
Consumer Price Index (% change y-o-y, avg) |
8.6 |
|
Current Account Balance (as a % of GDP) |
-20.3 |
|
Real GDP (annual % change) |
0.6 |
|
GDP per Capita, US$ |
440.8 |
|
Import Cover (months) |
2.26 |
|
Population, million |
19.1 |
| Total External Debt (as a % of GDP) |
37.6 |