← Country index

Southern Africa

Malawi

EU Compliance · Geopolitical Risk · Sourcing Attractiveness

EU Compliance

lower score = lower risk

5.3

Geopolitical Risk

lower score = lower risk

3.0

Sourcing Attractiveness

higher score = more attractive

3.1

Why these scores

EU Compliance, by dimension

Forced & child labour6
Worker rights & FOA5
OHS & audit transparency5
Food & product safety5
Environmental & regulatory5
Governance & anti-corruption8
Tariff & preferential access2
Non-tariff barriers5
Supply chain traceability7

1 = lowest risk · methodology & sources

Geopolitical Risk, by dimension

Geopolitical conflict2
Supplier concentration3
Climate & physical risk6
Sanctions exposure1
Policy continuity & property rights3

1 = lowest risk · methodology & sources

Attractiveness, by dimension

Labour cost competitiveness9
Supply base depth2
Logistics & infrastructure2
Workforce skills3
Scalability5
Ease of doing business3
Trade access & tariffs2
Sustainability baseline2
Innovation & IP1
Quality standards2

9 = most attractive · methodology & sources

Analyst scores, last reviewed June 2026; each dimension's sources and cadence are on its methodology page.

Data layers

The EU is Malawi's #6 import source (world lens). Malawi is the EU's #131 goods supplier.

Malawi on the world stage

Malawi$3.3bn total importsChina16.1% · $535mSouth Africa14.9% · $494mUnited Rep. of Tanzania10.3% · $341mUnited Arab Emirates8.5% · $281mIndia8.4% · $278mEU-276.5% · $214mASEAN-64.7% · $156mJapan2.9% · $96mUS2.2% · $74m

Total imports

$3.3bn

2024 annual

Total exports

$958m

157 partners

#1 import source

China

16.1%

#1 export dest.

Belgium

18.6%

2024 annual, UN Comtrade (HS TOTAL, all partners). Line colour: coverage (exports/imports per partner).

Malawi and the EU

EU imports from

€383m

0.0% of extra-EU

EU exports to

€146m

0.0% of extra-EU

EU supplier rank

EU's #131 supplier

EU trade balance

one-sided

coverage 0.38

2025 annual totals, Eurostat COMEXT. EU trade board →

Electricity & grid

National sources · carbon from Ember · estimated

Electricity costs →

Industrial

155

EUR/MWh

Consumer

80

EUR/MWh, all-in

Grid carbon

55

gCO₂e/kWh

Renewables

of generation

regulated market

Power market

Import dependence

Market model

State monopoly (ESCOM)

Direct PPA

None

grid access: closed

Reserve margin

Regulator

Not independent

MERA (Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority)

80% hydro from the Shire River system, which is drought-sensitive and silting. Installed capacity is only ~600 MW for 20 million people. Very low carbon intensity (55 gCO2e/kWh) but chronic shortage.

Power markets: full layer →

Tracked infrastructure

3 solar farms

101 MW · 1 building

2 coal mines

capacity n/a

Operating assets tracked by Global Energy Monitor (CC BY 4.0); counts are tracked facilities, not exhaustive totals. Energy overview →

Demographics

UN World Population Prospects 2024 · medium variant

ASEAN demographics →

Median age

17.8

→ 24.6 by 2050

Fertility

3.59

above replacement

Working-age

56.7%

aged 15–64

Old-age dep.

4.6

→ 7.6 by 2050

Median age 1990–2050

Population 21.7M · still growing past 2100

By 2050: +72% (37.4M)