Country profile · Southern Africa
Malawi
Malawi is a landlocked country in southern Africa with about 22 million people, along Lake Malawi. President Peter Mutharika, 86, won the presidency back in September 2025. He has been in South Africa since October 6, 2026 with no return date announced. Tobacco earns more than half of Malawi's export income. It is one of the world's poorest countries.
Where Malawi ranks
All rankings →- #182of 189GDP per person$625
- #62of 197Population22.2 million
- #177of 196Median age18.1 years
- #155of 196Births per woman3.53
- #150of 196Life expectancy67.7 years
- #17of 114UN peacekeepers761
Which country has the biggest army? Largest armies in the world →
Which alliances is Malawi in?
All alliances →Who runs Malawi?
President Peter Mutharika was born on July 18, 1940 in Thyolo District. He taught law at Washington University in St. Louis for decades. His brother Bingu wa Mutharika was president until he died in office on April 5, 2012. Peter Mutharika served as president from 2014 to 2020. The Constitutional Court annulled his 2019 victory on February 3, 2020, and he lost the rerun of June 23, 2020 to Lazarus Chakwera. On September 16, 2025 Mutharika beat Chakwera with 56.76% of the vote. He was sworn in on October 4, 2025. His Democratic Progressive Party holds 78 of the 229 seats in the National Assembly, short of a majority of 115 (chart). Several former ministers of Chakwera's government have been arrested or questioned. Their party calls this political persecution. On October 6, 2026 Mutharika left for a "private visit" to South Africa, his fifth since December 2025. The government has given no return date and denied reports that he went to India for medical treatment.
- Democratic Progressive Party (Mutharika) 78
- Malawi Congress Party (Chakwera) 52
- Independents 73
- Others and vacant 26
Photo (January 2020): UK Department for International Development, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
Who are Malawi's allies and enemies?
The United States was Malawi's largest bilateral donor. US support for Malawian HIV clinics stopped in January 2025. A $350 million US road and land program was terminated in December 2025. Since January 1, 2026 the United States has suspended most visitor and student visas for Malawians because many overstayed. In January 2026 the two countries signed a five-year health deal, with up to $792 million from the United States. The United Kingdom, the former colonial power, plans to cut its aid from £50.2 million in the 2025-26 financial year to £5 million in 2028-29. Malawi switched recognition from Taiwan to China in December 2007. China built Malawi's parliament and gave a grant of 300 million yuan in February 2026. Malawi and Tanzania dispute the border on Lake Malawi. Mozambique's ports at Beira and Nacala are Malawi's main routes to the sea. Three Malawian peacekeepers were killed when rebels took Goma, in Congo, in January 2025.
Allies and partners
United StatesFive-year health deal signed January 2026
ChinaRecognized since 2007; built the parliament
United KingdomFormer colonial power; cutting aid sharply
MozambiquePorts at Beira and Nacala
ZambiaPlanned rail link from Mchinji to Chipata
Tensions
TanzaniaDisputes the border on Lake Malawi
- Lake Malawi border Malawi says the border runs along Tanzania's shore. Tanzania wants a line through the middle of the lake.
- Kayelekera Uranium mine that restarted in August 2025, the first output since 2014.
- Mchinji Border town on a planned rail link to Chipata in Zambia.
- Kangankunde Rare earths project visited by a US State Department team in December 2025.
- Malawi
- Partner
- Tensions
Who does Malawi trade with?
Malawi exported $936 million of goods in 2025 and imported $3.6 billion (National Statistical Office). Belgium bought 18.7% of exports, mostly tobacco (chart). China supplied 19.7% of imports, Tanzania 13.1% and South Africa 13.0%. Tobacco earned about $540 million in 2025, more than half of export income. The 2026 auction season earned only $286.1 million, about 47% less. In November 2023 Malawi devalued the kwacha from 1,180 to 1,700 per dollar. The official rate has stayed near that level, but on the street a dollar costs more than twice as much, according to the World Bank. Official reserves cover less than one month of imports. In October 2026 drivers in Lilongwe queued for up to three days for fuel. Inflation fell to 19.4% in September 2026. Government debt was 90.9% of GDP in March 2026, and Malawi is in debt distress. Its last IMF loan program lapsed in May 2025.
Sells to
Share of Malawi's exports
Belgium18.7%- China6.9%
India5.6%- United States4.7%
South Africa4.4%
Buys from
Share of Malawi's imports
- China19.7%
- Tanzania13.1%
- South Africa13.0%
United Arab Emirates6.5%- India5.7%
Goods, 2025. UN Comtrade (Malawi's own figures).
Why is Malawi so poor?
Malawi's GDP per person was $625 in 2025, among the lowest in the world (chart). The World Bank expects 76.6% of Malawians to live on less than $3 a day in 2025. About three in four workers farm, mostly maize, and the average farm is about 0.7 hectares. Malawi has no coast. Its nearest ports are 800 to 1,000 km away in Mozambique. The population grew from about 4 million in 1964 to 22.2 million in 2025, and the UN expects 37.4 million by 2050. Cyclone Freddy killed 679 people in March 2023 and left 537 missing. In March 2024 a drought led to a state of disaster in 23 of the 28 districts. In 2013 the "Cashgate" scandal showed that officials had stolen at least about $30 million in six months, and donors froze about $150 million of aid. Only about a quarter of people have electricity. Life expectancy has risen from about 40 years in 1975 to about 68.
GDP per person, 2025
Full ranking →- Zambia$1,318
- Tanzania$1,292
Niger$750- Malawi$625
- Mozambique$623
Madagascar$622
Central African Republic$579
Burundi$478
South Sudan$470
IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026)
How did Hastings Banda rule Malawi?
Britain declared a protectorate in 1891 and renamed it Nyasaland in 1907. From 1953 to 1963 it was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. It became independent as Malawi on July 6, 1964, with Hastings Kamuzu Banda as prime minister. Malawi became a republic in 1966, and Banda's Malawi Congress Party was the only legal party. In 1971 Banda made himself President for Life. On May 18, 1983 three cabinet ministers and an MP were found dead at Mwanza. A 1994 inquiry found that state agents had murdered them, but a court acquitted Banda in 1995. In a referendum on June 14, 1993 nearly two-thirds of voters chose multiparty politics. Bakili Muluzi won the election of May 17, 1994, and Banda conceded. Banda died in Johannesburg in 1997. His party, led by Chakwera, won the presidency in 2020 and lost it again in 2025.