Malawi

Malawi is a landlocked south-east African country bordered by Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, and has a land mass of 94,280km². Lake Malawi is the ninth-largest freshwater lake on earth at 580km long and about 75km wide at its widest point. It has a population of 20.9m people and a GDP of US$14.08bn. \r\nEconomic growth is projected at 3.3% in 2024, 3.8% in 2025 and 5.0% in 2026 and growth will be driven by the mining, retail, and tourism sectors. Malawi’s medium-term growth outlook is improving because of reforms undertaken by the government in 2023 to stabilize the economy, although other numerous downside risks related to climate change, continued foreign exchange challenges, delays in the implementation of key macro-fiscal and structural reforms persist.\r\n\r\nIt is widely regarded as the most tobacco-dependent country in the world and its tobacco industry is the country\'s second-largest employer, with more than 350,000 farmers and their families dependent on this industry. Tobacco is the main cash crop, contributing 60% to foreign exchange reserves and 15% to GDP. But annual tobacco revenues have declined by 24%, resulting in farmers starting to grow other crops. Japan Tobacco International is one of Malawi\'s largest tobacco buyers and has invested US$450m in the country, contracting 11,000 tobacco growers. 72% of the population earn below the $2.15 international poverty line in 2023, up somewhat from 70.1% in 2019. The unemployment rate improved slightly, from 6.8% in 2022 to 6.7% in 2023.\r\n\r\nMalawi continues to rely on subsistence, rainfed agriculture, which limits its growth potential, increases its susceptibility to weather shocks, and creates food insecurity. The African Development Bank says that due to the high dependence on rainfed agriculture, weather-related shocks are key risks to export commodities such as tea, tobacco, and other products.\r\n\r\nInflation Rate in Malawi increased to 33.30 percent in June from 32.70 percent in May of 2024. Inflation Rate in Malawi averaged 15.30 percent from 2001 until 2024, reaching an all-time high of 37.90 percent in February of 2013 and a record low of 6.30 percent in December of 2010.\r\n

Sources: Who Owns Whom sector reports, CIA Factbook, African Development Bank, World Bank, Trading Economics, African Statistical Yearbook and IMF.