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2022
Economic Complexity
Research -0.0044Rank 53 of 135
2022
Product
Exports | Imports $1.19B | $2.15B157 of 226 |  161 of 226
2022
Per Capita Product
Exports | Imports $58.2 | $106207 of 219 |  212 of 219

About

Overview In 2022 Malawi was the number 157 economy in the world in terms of total exports and the number 161 in total imports.

Exports The top exports of Malawi are Raw Tobacco ($435M), Gold ($225M), Tea ($84.3M), Ground Nuts ($81.4M), and Dried Legumes ($57.5M), exporting mostly to United Arab Emirates ($255M), Belgium ($143M), Tanzania ($72.8M), Kenya ($58.8M), and South Africa ($56.2M).

Imports The top imports of Malawi are Refined Petroleum ($245M), Nitrogenous Fertilizers ($110M), Crude Petroleum ($97.6M), Mixed Mineral or Chemical Fertilizers ($77.5M), and Packaged Medicaments ($75.8M), importing mostly from South Africa ($442M), China ($333M), United Arab Emirates ($240M), India ($132M), and Kuwait ($105M).

Location Malawi borders Mozambique, Tanzania, and Zambia by land.

Latest Trends

Latest Trade

Flow
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Y-AXIS SCALE

The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of Malawi.

Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.

* Trade values are converted to USD using each month's exchange rate. For December 2023 data, the exchange rate from December 30, 2023 is used.

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Latest Data

Flow
Color
Depth

The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2022)Raw Tobacco$435M
Top Destination (2022)United Arab Emirates$255M

In 2022, Malawi exported a total of $1.19B, making it the number 157 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Malawi have changed by $249M from $939M in 2017 to $1.19B in 2022.

The most recent exports are led by Raw Tobacco ($435M), Gold ($225M), Tea ($84.3M), Ground Nuts ($81.4M), and Dried Legumes ($57.5M). The most common destination for the exports of Malawi are United Arab Emirates ($255M), Belgium ($143M), Tanzania ($72.8M), Kenya ($58.8M), and South Africa ($56.2M).

Explore Visualizations

Exports (2022)
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Destinations (2022)
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Market Growth

Flow
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Fastest Growing Export Markets (2021 - 2022)
United Arab Emirates$118M (+ 85.9%)
Kenya$28.3M (+ 92.8%)
Zambia$17.9M (+ 78.1%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2021 - 2022)
Angola$97.6M (+ 630k%)
Nigeria$24.3M (+ 10.8k%)
Argentina$10.1M (+ 84.2%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2021 - 2022)

Service Trade

Service Trade

Malawi Exports Services (2019)$182M
Malawi Imports Services (2019)$358M

In 2019, Malawi exported $182M worth of services. The top services exported by Malawi in 2019 were Computer and information services ($44.1M), Transportation ($30.3M), Business travel ($30.2M), Insurance services ($25.9M), and Financial services ($18.7M).

The top services imported by Malawi in 2019 were Transportation ($94.4M), Other business services ($62.5M), Business travel ($53.7M), Personal travel ($53.5M), and Insurance services ($33.8M).

Service Exports (2019)

Service Imports (2019)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Research)-0.0044Rank 53 of 135

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

Malawi has a high level of specialization in Raw Tobacco (803), Ground Nuts (392), Tea (207), Tobacco Processing Machines (182), and Dried Legumes (75.8). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Malawi observed and expected exports in each product.

Most Complex Products by PCI

The highest complexity exports of Malawi according to the product complexity index (PCI) are Textile machinery; spinning, doubling, twisting machines, textile reeling or winding machines and... (1.11), Milking machines and dairy machinery (1.02), Furniture; medical, surgical, dental or veterinary (e.g. operating tables, hospital beds, dentists'... (0.81), Machine-tools; (including way-type unit head machines) for drilling, boring, milling, threading or... (0.79), and Pharmaceutical goods (0.75). PCI measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for Malawi according to the relatedness index, were Manganese Ore (0.13), Other Ores (0.12), Insect Resins (0.11), Crude Petroleum (0.11), and Cocoa Beans (0.11). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Malawi is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of Malawi. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that Malawi exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Diversification Frontier

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Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

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