Malawi’s trade deficit widened to $2.44 billion between January and November 2025, up from $2.32 billion during the same period last year.
This is according to the Malawi International Merchandise Trade Statistics Bulletin for November 2025, published by the National Statistical Office.
It shows that the country’s total imports reached $3.33 billion during the eleven-month period, representing a 2 percent increase from $3.26 billion recorded in the full year 2024.
Total exports, however, declined to $885.85 million from $946.97 million in 2024, marking a 6.5 percent drop.
Further, the statistics show a consistent pattern of growing trade imbalance in recent years.
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For example, in 2022, the trade deficit stood at $2.1 billion, rising to $2.18 billion in 2023, before reaching $2.32 billion in 2024 and now $2.44 billion in the first eleven months of 2025.
In November 2025 Malawi recorded the highest monthly import bill of the year, at $348.27 million, while exports stood at $109.37 million, resulting in a monthly trade deficit of $238.9 million.
This represents deterioration from November 2024, when imports were $301.16 million and exports $149.11 million, yielding a deficit of $152.05 million.
The best export performance in 2025 came in September, when exports reached $137.18 million, followed by July with $117.03 million and August with $111.7 million.
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The worst export performance was recorded in March at $30.05 million.
Monthly trade deficits ranged from a low of $146.82 million in January 2025 to a high of $280.15 million in May.
Import bills remained consistently above $250 million every month except January and April.
In an interview, economist Veli Nyirongo said the overall impression from the trade performance was one of growing structural imbalance rather than temporary weakness.
He said this imbalance places sustained pressure on foreign exchange availability and exposes the economy to external shocks, particularly in periods of global price volatility.
“While exports recorded a modest month-on-month improvement, the sharp year-on-year decline, combined with a strong rise in imports, points to an economy that is consuming and producing in ways that remain heavily dependent on external markets.
“The composition of trade further reinforces this impression. Export earnings remain narrowly concentrated in a few primary commodities, with tobacco dominating receipts,” Nyirongo said.
Another economist Maurry Siyasiya described the situation as concerning, saying the solution would be to stimulate production by making capital available.
“We can also resort to import substitution on some of the items such as fertiliser,” Siyasiya said.
When presenting the Mid-year Budget Review Statement to Parliament in November, Minister of Finance Joseph Mwanamvekha acknowledged that the country’s narrow export base limited the capacity to generate enough foreign exchange, worsening the reserve position
