By Kingsley Jassi:
Malawi’s trade woes spared the key export commodity, tobacco, as it raked in about $545 million in 2024, latest official records contained in the Government Annual Economic report show.
This is a record performance in the recent years, pointing to a reclaim of the tobacco industry glory, as the earnings grew from $389.3 million in 2023.
This performance excited the Tobacco Commission (TC) which acknowledged good market trends in recent years as the global demand continues to improve owing to production slumps in some countries.
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TC spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said the outlook is promising.
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“We are happy that the crop we regulate is doing well considering the improving exports as the figures show. We hope this trend continues to ensure farmers have a stable market,” Chigwenembe said.
However, the year saw a mixed performance across the country’s main export commodities.
Pulses, the second largest export commodity, show improved exports at $81 million from $62.8 million in 2023 while tea increased from $62.6 million to $68.7 million.
In 2024, the report shows goods balance deteriorated by 4.9 percent, with the deficit widening from close to $2.2 billion in 2023 to near $2.3 billion in 2024.
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“This was primarily driven by a 2.8 percent increase in goods imports, which rose from 3.145 billion in 2023 to $3.234 billion in 2024, coupled with a 1.9 percent decline in goods exports, from $965 million to $946 million,” the report says.
The report further explains that the increase in imports was fueled by high demand for vehicles, petroleum oil, pharmaceuticals, and farm inputs, while the decline in exports was mainly attributed to a decline in sugar production.
Looking ahead to 2025, government projects the goods account deficit to widen further, increasing by 3.84 percent, from $1.85 billion to $1.9 billion with both exports and imports of goods expected to grow, by 15 percent and 8 percent, respectively
Meanwhile, the minister of agriculture has indicated increased efforts the country’s exports through the use of mega farms initiative, targeting China for soya, India for pigeon peas and central Africa for pulses
