Xifres de comerç exterior de Malawi

Foreign Trade in Figures

Malawi is relatively open to international trade: the country is a member of the WTO and has bilateral trade agreements with two of its main trade partners, South Africa and Zimbabwe. Malawi is also a beneficiary of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a U.S. trade preference program. As part of its trade policy, the country has been gradually reducing protections granted to domestic trade by shifting its sources of revenue from customs duties to consumption and direct taxes. Overall, Malawi's economy remains heavily dependent on agriculture, and its exports and imports reflect this reliance on primary and intermediate goods: tobacco accounts for almost half of total exports, as the country is one of the world's largest producers of tobacco. Other major exports include groundnuts, tea, dried vegetables, and agricultural products in general. Imports are led by refined petroleum (16.8% of total imports in 2022), machinery, transport equipment, fertilizers, and medicaments (data Comtrade).

According to the latest data available by Comtrade, the main export destinations of Malawi are Belgium (16%), Tanzania (9.4%), Kenya (6.9%), South Africa (6.4%), Zimbabwe (5.3%), and the United States (5.3%); whereas the top import origins are China (16.5%), the United Arab Emirates (14.0%), South Africa (14.0%), Kuwait (7.4%), India (5.5%), and Japan (3.2% - data 2022).

Malawi’s trade balance is structurally in deficit. In 2022, imports of goods declined to USD 1.5 billion, while the country exported goods for a value of around USD 800 million (-50.5% and -20.7% year-on-year, respectively – data WTO). Concerning services, imports stood at USD 1.3 billion against USD 417 million in exports (data WTO). The trade deficit has been contracting in recent years, a trend that was exacerbated in 2022 as imports collapsed reflecting the impact of foreign exchange shortages. While alleviating the external balance, the unavailability of foreign exchange led to shortages of imported goods (World Bank).