Economy - overview: | Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounted for nearly 40% of GDP and 88% of export revenues in 2001. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. In late 2000, Malawi was approved for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program. In November 2002 the World Bank approved a $50 million drought recovery package, which is to be used for famine relief. The government faces strong challenges, e.g., to fully develop a market economy, to improve educational facilities, to face up to environmental problems, to deal with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS, and to satisfy foreign donors that fiscal discipline is being tightened. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth as tobacco accounts for over 50% of exports. |
| GDP: | purchasing power parity - $6.845 billion (2004 est.) |
| GDP - real growth rate: | 1.7% (2004 est.) |
| GDP - per capita: | purchasing power parity - $600 (2004 est.) |
| GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 51%
industry: 21.8%
services: 27.2% (2004 est.) |
| Investment (gross fixed): | 12.3% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Population below poverty line: | 55% (2004 est.) |
| Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
| Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 9.5% (2004 est.) |
| Labor force: | 4.5 million (2001 est.) |
| Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture 90% (2003 est.) |
| Unemployment rate: | NA (2003 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: $528.1 million
expenditures: $653.2 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| Public debt: | 235.7% of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Agriculture - products: | tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, pulses; groundnuts, Macadamia nuts; cattle, goats |
| Industries: | tobacco, tea, sugar, sawmill products, cement, consumer goods |
| Industrial production growth rate: | -1.6% (2004 est.) |
| Electricity - production: | 769.2 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - consumption: | 715.3 million kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - exports: | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity - imports: | 0 kWh (2001) |
| Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil - consumption: | 5,400 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil - exports: | NA (2001) |
| Oil - imports: | NA (2001) |
| Current account balance: | $-58 million (2004 est.) |
| Exports: | $455 million f.o.b. (2004 est.) |
| Exports - commodities: | tobacco 60%, tea, sugar, cotton, coffee, peanuts, wood products, apparel |
| Exports - partners: | South Africa 23.3%, US 13.4%, Germany 11.3%, Egypt 5.7%, Portugal 4.8%, Japan 4.5%, Netherlands 4.1% (2003) |
| Imports: | $505 million f.o.b. (2003 est.) |
| Imports - commodities: | food, petroleum products, semimanufactures, consumer goods, transportation equipment |
| Imports - partners: | South Africa 53.7%, India 4.9%, Tanzania 3.9% (2003) |
| Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: | $132 million (2004 est.) |
| Debt - external: | $3.026 billion (2004 est.) |
| Economic aid - recipient: | $540 million (1999) |
| Currency: | Malawian kwacha (MWK) |
| Currency code: | MWK |
| Exchange rates: | Malawian kwachas per US dollar - NA (2003), 76.6866 (2002), 72.1973 (2001), 59.5438 (2000), 44.0881 (1999) |
| Fiscal year: | 1 July - 30 June
Source: CIA World Factbook
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