Malawi: Price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Malawi's price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure) rose 6.96 on 2024 (from 28.86 to 35.82).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −1.08 and a typical year strayed about 7.27 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 20.92 in 1996 and the biggest yearly fall was 31.4 in 1994. 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 2% 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 126th highest value of the 166 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.

Closest to Malawi in the 2025 ranking

• Kazakhstan — 123rd of 166: 36.63
• Uganda — 124th of 166: 36.37
• Cameroon — 125th of 166: 35.92
• Philippines — 127th of 166: 35.71
• Lesotho — 128th of 166: 34.84
• Kenya — 129th of 166: 34.79

What this measures

The price level index (PLI) is the ratio of a purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor to the corresponding market exchange rate between two countries, expressed relative to a base country that is set equal to 100. For this series the base country is the United States. It provides a measure of the differences in price level between the country and the United States by indicating the number of units of the common currency (US dollars) needed to buy the same volume of the aggregation level in each country. This indicator provides a measure of the differences in the price levels of countries at the level of Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure.

Limitations: Global PPP estimates underlying this indicator are produced by the ICP Global Office and regional implementing agencies, based on data supplied by the national implementing agencies in the participating economies, and in accordance with the methodology recommended by the ICP Technical Advisory Group and approved by the ICP Governing Board. As such, these results are not produced by participating economies as part of their national official statistics. Price level index are not recommended to use as a precise measure to establish strict rankings of countries.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a no aggregation provided for this indicator in wdi..

All 36 values

Price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure) in nearby economies

• Angola — 34.42 (2025)
• Benin — 33.71 (2025)
• Botswana — 39.33 (2025)
• Burkina Faso — 33.18 (2025)
• Burundi — 25.2 (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 54.14 (2025)
• Cameroon — 35.92 (2025)
• Central African Republic — 44.51 (2025)
• Chad

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

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Questions people ask

What is Malawi's price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure)?

35.82 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is down 62.94% from 96.67 in 1990 (2.8% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 101.67 in 1991 and the lowest 28.86 in 2024.

How does Malawi rank?

126th highest of 166 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure) unusual for Malawi?

In 2025, Malawi's price level index (Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure) rose 6.96 on 2024 (from 28.86 to 35.82). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −1.08 and a typical year strayed about 7.27 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator PA.NUS.PRVT.PLI, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB), uri: https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators, publisher: World Development Indicators 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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