Malawi’s year on-year inflation rate eased to 27.9 percent in November 2025, representing a 1.2 percentage points decline from 29.1 percent recorded in October, National Statistical Office (NSO) figures show.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, published on Tuesday, attributes the marginal slowdown to a decline in national food inflation, which fell to 30.1 percent from 32.4 percent in October.
However, non-food inflation increased to 24.2 percent from 23.8 percent over the same period.
The report further shows that the month-on-month national inflation rate for November stood at 2.3 percent, with food prices rising by 2.4 percent while non-food inflation was recorded at 2.1 percent.
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“In urban areas, the month-to-month inflation rate was 1.2 percent, with food and non-food inflation at 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. The rural month-to-month inflation rate stood at 2.8 percent, with rural food and non-food inflation recorded at 3.0 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively,” the report states.
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But Consumers Association of Malawi (Cama) Executive Director John Kapito expressed scepticism that the decline would translate into immediate relief for consumers.
Kapito said that in poor economies such as Malawi’s, it can take three to four months before any easing in inflation is reflected in market prices, largely due to external cost pressures.
“We have never seen prices of goods and services responding in the same manner to movements in inflation rates. It is therefore wrong to assume that whenever inflation goes down, the market automatically stabilises,” Kapito said.
Economist Marvin Banda said the past three months have been confusing for consumers, who continue to dig deeper into their pockets amid rising living costs, despite declining food prices and increasing fuel costs.
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Banda attributed the recent movements in food prices to politically motivated speculation, particularly following changes in government policy direction.
“The biggest post-harvest factor has been the policy shifts, rhetoric from the new government and changing market expectations among hoarders. This has resulted in hoarded maize being released onto the market, creating the disinflationary forces currently reflected in the CPI,” Banda said.
He said inflationary pressures is likely to remain elevated into 2026, driven by low food supply, transport costs, and other structural factors.
“The expectation is that the market will continue to struggle to make food available for the food-insecure, while other economic agents are yet to feel the full lagged effects of fuel price increases,” Banda added.
