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Economy - overview:
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Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounted for nearly 40% of GDP and 88% of export revenues in 2001. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. In late 2000, Malawi was approved for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program. In November 2002 the World Bank approved a $50 million drought recovery package, which is to be used for famine relief. The government faces strong challenges, e.g., to fully develop a market economy, to improve educational facilities, to face up to environmental problems, to deal with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS, and to satisfy foreign donors that fiscal discipline is being tightened. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for over 50% of exports.
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $6.811 billion (2002 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate:
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1.7% (2002 est.)
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $600 (2002 est.)
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 37%
industry: 16%
services: 47% (2001 est.)
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Population below poverty line:
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54% (FY 90/91 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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27.4% (2001 est.)
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Labor force:
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4.5 million (2001 est.)
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 86% (1997 est.)
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Unemployment rate:
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NA%
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Budget:
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revenues: $490 million
expenditures: $523 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY 99/00 est.)
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Industries:
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tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods
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Industrial production growth rate:
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-0.8% (2002 est.)
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Electricity - production:
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769.2 million kWh (2001)
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 3.3%
hydro: 96.7%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
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Electricity - consumption:
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715.3 million kWh (2001)
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Electricity - exports:
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0 kWh (2001)
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Electricity - imports:
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0 kWh (2001)
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Oil - production:
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0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - consumption:
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5,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
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Oil - exports:
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NA (2001)
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Oil - imports:
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NA (2001)
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Agriculture - products:
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tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, pulses; groundnuts, Macadamia nuts; cattle, goats
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Exports:
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$435 million f.o.b. (201)
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Exports - commodities:
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tobacco 60%, tea, sugar, cotton, coffee, peanuts, wood products, apparel
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Exports - partners:
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US 17.3%, Germany 13.6%, South Africa 10.2%, Egypt 6.2%, Japan 6%, Netherlands 5.5%, Russia 4.8%, UK 4.3% (2002)
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Imports:
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$505 million f.o.b. (2001)
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Imports - commodities:
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food, petroleum products, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment
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Imports - partners:
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South Africa 44.4%, Zambia 12.7%, US 5.6%, India 4.2% (2002)
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Debt - external:
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$2.9 billion (2002)
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$540 million (1999)
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Currency:
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Malawian kwacha (MWK)
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Currency code:
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MWK
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Exchange rates:
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Malawian kwachas per US dollar - 76.69 (2002), 72.2 (2001), 59.54 (2000), 44.09 (1999), 31.07 (1998)
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Fiscal year:
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1 July - 30 June
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