Malawi's external debt stocks (% of GNI) was 35.25% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 16.03 percentage points from 19.22% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 35.25% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 22.51% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 19.22% | 2014 |
| Highest | 117.51% | 1994 |
| Lowest | 10.19% | 2010 |
| Average since 2015 | 25.82% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 46.09% | 1980 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Malawi's external debt stocks (% of GNI) rose 6.06 percentage points on 2023 (from 29.19% to 35.25%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1994 to 2023), the average change was −1.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 19.76 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 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 56.91 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 47.5 percentage points in 2002. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.29 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 80% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
A straight-line projection, tested first
Extending that straight line gives about 34.79% for 2027. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2022 to 2024 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.98%, against 4.09% for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.
See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.
How it compares
In 2024, Malawi had the 75th highest value of the 110 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 | 35.25% | 2024 |
| Low income | 42.23% | 2024 |
Closest to Malawi in the 2024 ranking
- Gabon — 72nd of 110: 35.95%
- Central African Republic — 73rd of 110: 35.85%
- Pakistan — 74th of 110: 35.63%
- Kenya — 76th of 110: 34.99%
- Peru — 77th of 110: 34.23%
- Solomon Islands — 78th of 110: 33.83%
What this measures
Total external debt stocks to gross national income. Total external debt is debt owed to nonresidents repayable in currency, goods, or services. Total external debt is the sum of public, publicly guaranteed, and private nonguaranteed long-term debt, use of IMF credit, and short-term debt. Short-term debt includes all debt having an original maturity of one year or less and interest in arrears on long-term debt. GNI (formerly GNP) is the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 45 values
| Year | External debt stocks (% of GNI) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 35.25 |
| 2023 | 29.19 |
| 2022 | 27.71 |
| 2021 | 26.63 |
| 2020 | 25.89 |
| 2019 | 22.51 |
| 2018 | 23.7 |
| 2017 | 24.75 |
| 2016 | 23.43 |
| 2015 | 19.14 |
| 2014 |
External debt stocks (% of GNI) in nearby economies
- Angola — 79.57% (2024)
- Benin — 66.55% (2024)
- Botswana — 11.93% (2024)
- Burkina Faso — 48.76% (2024)
- Burundi — 47.13% (2024)
- Cabo Verde — 86.89% (2024)
- Cameroon — 31.29% (2024)
- Central African Republic — 35.85% (2024)
- Chad — 16.4% (2024)
- Comoros — 24.81% (2024)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 18.25% (2024)
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 external debt stocks (% of GNI)?
- 35.25% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1980?
- It is down 10.84 percentage points from 46.09% in 1980. The highest value was 117.51% in 1994 and the lowest 10.19% in 2010.
- How does Malawi rank?
- 75th highest of 110 economies with data for 2024.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator DT.DOD.DECT.GN.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Debt Statistics, World Bank (WB) 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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