Malawi: Central government debt, total (% of GDP)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Malawi's central government debt, total (% of GDP) rose 6.21 percentage points on 2022 (from 55.6% to 61.81%).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2022), the average change was +2.47 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 10.55 percentage points in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.59 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.78 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 96% of the movement over 8 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to Malawi in the 2023 ranking

• San Marino — 1st of 6: 99.87%
• Jordan — 2nd of 6: 93.62%
• Iceland — 3rd of 6: 80.09%
• Kazakhstan — 5th of 6: 20.89%
• Botswana — 6th of 6: 19.75%

What this measures

Debt is the entire stock of direct government fixed-term contractual obligations to others outstanding on a particular date. It includes domestic and foreign liabilities such as currency and money deposits, securities other than shares, and loans. It is the gross amount of government liabilities reduced by the amount of equity and financial derivatives held by the government. Because debt is a stock rather than a flow, it is measured as of a given date, usually the last day of the fiscal year. Central government is the part of general government that includes all administrative departments of the national executive, legislative, and judicial functions, other central agencies and those non-market producers controlled by the central government, whose competence extends normally over the whole economic territory. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 13 values

Central government debt, total (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Botswana — 19.75% (2023)
• Eswatini — 35.72% (2021)
• Ethiopia — 31.45% (2019)
• Lesotho — 2.99% (2020)
• Mauritius — 57.13% (2019)
• South Africa — 82.76% (2024)
• Zambia — 71.41% (2021)

More public sector data for Malawi

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 162.82 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 282.4 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 1.15% (2025)
• Armed forces personnel, total — 15,000 (2020)
• Armed forces personnel (% of total labor force) — 0.2% (2020)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 2 million (2024)
• Military expenditure (% of general government expenditure) — 3.84% (2025)
• CPIA business regulatory environment rating (1=low to 6=high) — 3 (2025)
• CPIA debt policy rating (1=low to 6=high) — 2 (2025)
• CPIA economic management cluster average (1=low to 6=high)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Malawi's central government debt, total (% of GDP)?

61.81% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2009?

It is up 41.7 percentage points from 20.12% in 2009. The highest value was 61.81% in 2023 and the lowest 18.85% in 2011.

Is the latest change in central government debt, total (% of GDP) unusual for Malawi?

In 2023, Malawi's central government debt, total (% of GDP) rose 6.21 percentage points on 2022 (from 55.6% to 61.81%). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (2010 to 2022), the average change was +2.47 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.DOD.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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