Malawi's communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) was 29.61% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 5.66 percentage points from 35.27% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 29.61% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 59.5% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 35.27% | 2015 |
| Highest | 59.5% | 2020 |
| Lowest | 2.52% | 1993 |
| Average since 2016 | 38.93% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 7.55% | 1978 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Malawi's communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) fell 0.09 percentage points on 2024 (from 29.69% to 29.61%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.74 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below 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 21.61 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 21.14 percentage points in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 4% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Malawi had the 90th highest value of the 134 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Malawi | 29.61% | 2025 |
| World | 49.27% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 35.13% | 2025 |
| Low income | 23.29% | 2024 |
Closest to Malawi in the 2025 ranking
- Maldives — 86th of 134: 30.72%
- Philippines — 87th of 134: 29.8%
- Ecuador — 88th of 134: 29.75%
- Saudi Arabia — 90th of 134: 29.19%
- Belize — 91st of 134: 29.05%
- Mongolia — 92nd of 134: 27.2%
What this measures
Communications, computer, information, and other services cover international telecommunications; computer data; news-related service transactions between residents and nonresidents; construction services; royalties and license fees; miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services; personal, cultural, and recreational services; manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others; and maintenance and repair services and government services not included elsewhere. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are services provided by non-residents to residents.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 48 values
| Year | Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 29.61 |
| 2024 | 29.69 |
| 2023 | 34.36 |
| 2022 | 35.38 |
| 2021 | 56.52 |
| 2020 | 59.5 |
| 2019 | 37.89 |
| 2018 | 34.85 |
| 2017 | 35.7 |
| 2016 | 35.77 |
| 2015 |
Communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 9.14% (2025)
- Benin — 47.01% (2023)
- Botswana — 60.55% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 17.28% (2024)
- Burundi — 17.25% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 36.85% (2025)
- Cameroon — 40.73% (2024)
- Comoros — 13.4% (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 21.84% (2025)
- Congo, Rep.
More economic policy & debt data for Malawi
- Services, value added (constant 2015 US$) — US$6.68 billion (2025)
- Services, value added (constant LCU) — 4.34 trillion (2025)
- Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (constant 2015 US$) — US$11.42 billion (2025)
- Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices (constant LCU) — 7.6 trillion (2025)
- GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$12.18 billion (2025)
- GDP (constant LCU) — 8.09 trillion (2025)
- GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$548.16 (2025)
- GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 364,283 (2025)
- Services, value added (annual % growth) — 2.15% (2025)
- GDP (annual % growth) — 1.89% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Malawi's communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP)?
- 29.61% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1978?
- It is up 22.06 percentage points from 7.55% in 1978. The highest value was 59.5% in 2020 and the lowest 2.52% in 1993.
- How does Malawi rank?
- 90th highest of 134 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) unusual for Malawi?
- In 2025, Malawi's communications, computer, etc. (% of service imports, BoP) fell 0.09 percentage points on 2024 (from 29.69% to 29.61%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.74 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 7.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BM.GSR.CMCP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
Legal entity
Devansh Yadav
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Governing law: Courts at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Phone: +91 8433475698
Legal: legal@analyzeit.in