Malawi's inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) was 30.37% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 10.55 percentage points from 19.81% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 30.37% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 6.22% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 19.81% | 2015 |
| Highest | 112.69% | 2002 |
| Lowest | 4.1% | 2007 |
| Average since 2016 | 16.03% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 16.41% | 1981 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Malawi's inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) rose 5.72 percentage points on 2024 (from 24.64% to 30.37%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 28.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 87.07 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 102.35 percentage points in 2003. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 2.02 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 41% 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.
How it compares
In 2025, Malawi had the 7th highest value of the 186 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 | 30.37% | 2025 |
| World | 3.33% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 4.11% | 2025 |
| Low income | 6.28% | 2025 |
Closest to Malawi in the 2025 ranking
- Argentina — 4th of 186: 39.09%
- Türkiye — 5th of 186: 36.43%
- Haiti — 6th of 186: 34.39%
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 8th of 186: 28.78%
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 9th of 186: 24.96%
- Angola — 10th of 186: 20.49%
What this measures
Inflation as measured by the annual growth rate of the GDP implicit deflator shows the rate of price change in the economy as a whole. The GDP implicit deflator is the ratio of GDP in current local currency to GDP in constant local currency.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a median.
All 45 values
| Year | Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 30.37 |
| 2024 | 24.64 |
| 2023 | 29.03 |
| 2022 | 17.17 |
| 2021 | 8.15 |
| 2020 | 6.22 |
| 2019 | 7.73 |
| 2018 | 6.15 |
| 2017 | 10.58 |
| 2016 | 20.29 |
| 2015 |
Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) in nearby economies
- Angola — 20.49% (2025)
- Benin — 1.55% (2025)
- Botswana — 3.63% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 8.84% (2025)
- Burundi — 18.22% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 1.74% (2025)
- Cameroon — 2.83% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 2.34% (2025)
- Chad — -1.96% (2025)
- Comoros — 4.3% (2025)
More financial sector data for Malawi
- DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$1,751 (2025)
- Official exchange rate (LCU per US$, period average) — US$1,161 (2023)
- Net domestic credit (current LCU) — 7.84 trillion (2024)
- Net foreign assets (current LCU) — -1.65 trillion (2024)
- Broad money (current LCU) — 5.34 trillion (2024)
- Claims on central government (annual growth as % of broad money) — 49.15% (2024)
- Claims on private sector (annual growth as % of broad money) — 9.6% (2024)
- Broad money (annual % growth) — 45.13% (2024)
- Broad money to total reserves ratio — 3.46 (2020)
- Consumer price index (2010 = 100)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Malawi's inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth)?
- 30.37% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1981?
- It is up 13.96 percentage points from 16.41% in 1981. The highest value was 112.69% in 2002 and the lowest 4.1% in 2007.
- How does Malawi rank?
- 7th highest of 186 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) unusual for Malawi?
- In 2025, Malawi's inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) rose 5.72 percentage points on 2024 (from 24.64% to 30.37%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.05 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 28.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above 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 NY.GDP.DEFL.KD.ZG, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs); National Accounts data files, Central Banks; Staff estimates, 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.
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