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'Key facts: Malawi' is available as a PDF (132kb)

Key facts: Malawi

Last updated: March 2008

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Population: 12 million. Of these, 45% live below the poverty line (Malawi Welfare Monitoring Survey, 2005/06).
Average life expectancy: men: 37 years (HDI, 2005). UK: 79 years (World Bank development data).
Average per capita income: $160 (WDI, 2004). UK: $69,560 (£37,600) (World Bank development data, 2005).
Gross national income (GNI): $2.2 billion (WDI, 2006).
Average annual growth rate: 7.5% (IMF, 2007).
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needs:22% (IHS, 2005).
Women dying in childbirth: 984 per 100,000. UK: 11 per 100,000 (World Health report, 2005).
Children dying before age 5: 133 per 1,000 (DHS, 2004). UK: 6 per 1,000 (World Health Report).
Children getting primary school education: 80% (IHS, 2005).a UK: 100% (Unesco Institute of Statistics, 1999-2004).
Percentage of people aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS: 14% (UNAIDS and WHO’s 2004 report on global AIDS epidemic). UK: 0.11% (DHS, 2004).
Percentage of people with access to safe, clean water: 66% (IHS, 2005). UK: 100% (WHO and Unicef report).

DFID: Working to reduce poverty in Malawi

From 2004/05 to 2006/07, Malawi received $1,282 million in aid, of which DFID provided $345 million. Part of the latter was Poverty Reduction Budget Support, which we have given to the Government of Malawi since 2001. We plan to give a minimum of $560 million in aid to Malawi each financial year from 2007/08 to 2010/11, 30% as PRBS. The European Union, Norway and the African Development Bank also provide PRBS to Malawi.

Governance

Poor governance is a cause of poverty. People suffer when governments do not allow participation in political life, provide access to justice, deliver adequate public services or control corruption. Serious problems with governance still exist in much of Africa – but the overall situation is improving. For example, in February 2006, the DFID-funded Malawi Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) secured the first-ever conviction of a government minister on corruption charges.

Working with the Government of Malawi, DFID:

has helped poor people realise their civil and political rights by providing $22 million to enable them to work with civil society, the Malawi Parliament and the Malawi Electoral Commission to bring about a more accountable and responsible governance system

has supplied $12 million to help the Government develop policies that benefit the poor and to implement them

has supported (including funding) the development of a strategic plan for Parliament and will continue this through its implementation over the next three years.

Health

Budget support has helped the Government of Malawi increase spending on health from $15 million in 2000 to $46 million in 2005. In 2005, a further $47 million from donors was included in the health budget, most of it as part of the health Sector-Wide Approach Programme (SWaP).

DFID has committed $180 million over six years to the SWaP, of which $99 million will address urgent human resource problems. These combined efforts have helped Malawi to achieve the following results:

the recruitment of 1,812 health workers across nine health professions since 2004

an increase in the intake of medical students from 36 to 53 (2006)

a decline of 30% in the under-5 mortality rate since 2000

an increase of 42% in the number of households with bed nets

a TB cure rate of 80%.

HIV/AIDS

The Government of Malawi and its development partners are committed to spending almost $600 million until 2009 to fight HIV and AIDS. HIV/AIDS Pool Funding Partners provide $72 million direct to the National AIDS Commission, including $7.2 million from DFID. The Global Fund, to which DFID also contributes, has agreed to commit $262 million up to 2009.

Because of these combined efforts, Malawi has been able to achieve the following results:

an HIV infection level that has stabilised at 14%

an almost three-fold increase in the number of people tested, from about 150,000 in 2002 to 440,000 in 2005.

an increase in the number of people who have started on anti-retroviral treatment, from 4,000 in 2003 to 100,000 in June 2007.

Education

In 2006/07, the Government of Malawi committed 14.2% of the national budget to education. In addition, external partners have committed $397 million directly to the education sector for the decade 1999-2008, of which $110 million is from DFID.

Through these combined efforts, Malawi has been able to achieve:

a net enrolment rate of 81.5%, from an estimated 67% in 1994

gender parity from Standard 1 to Standard 8

a net attendance ratio of 81.5%

a rise in young people’s literacy rate from 63% to 76%.

In addition, 380,000 children have benefited from the 3,500 classrooms built by DFID since 1996, with a further 400 underway. And we provided 2.4 million textbooks in 2006 and a further 8 million in 2007.

Hunger/ food aid

DFID provided $38.5 million to help the Government of Malawi manage the 2005/06 food crisis.

Humanitarian food aid helped provide sustenance and seeds to 4.2 million people.

In 2006/07, we provided $4.1 million to help meet the acute needs of more than 830,000 people as a result of localised droughts and floods, and contributed $9.25 million to the Malawi Government's fertiliser and seed subsidy programme, targeting 2 million households.

We are supporting the Government in leading a coordinated approach to long-term social protection.

Trade and growth (including agriculture)

PRBS of $40 million per annum since 2004 has helped the Malawi Government improve economic stability and fiscal discipline. This, in turn, has created an environment for growth and for investment in poverty reduction.

Due to good rains and a fertiliser subsidy, the economy grew by 7.9% in 2006 and 7.5% in 2007, up from only 2% in 2004. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a 7.7% growth in 2008.

Production from a new uranium mine in 2008 will increase exports by 60% and the gross domestic product (GDP) by 10%.

Inflation had fallen to below 7.5% by December 2007.

Domestic debt interest repayments by the Government of Malawi fell to 2.4% of GDP in 2007, from 6.6% in 2003.

DFID is supporting the development and implementation of the Government of Malawi’s agricultural inputs policy. By boosting agricultural production, this will ensure food security, increase poor people’s access to markets and drive longer-term economic growth.

Progress towards Millennium Development Goals

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
Malawi is on track to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education
The provision of free education has closed the gap between girls’ and boys’ enrolment in primary school.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Women in decision-making positions have increased from 15% in 2005 to 19.2% in 2007, narrowly surpassing the target of 19%.

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
Malawi has made strong progress in reducing child mortality, with a reduction of 10% between 2004 and 2006, down to 118 per 1,000 live births (MICS 2006).

MDG 5: Improve maternal health
The percentage of women who are attended by skilled personnel during delivery has gone up to 42% (2007) from 40% (2006).

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Malawi has stabilised the rate of HIV and AIDS infection at 14%.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Since 1990, the percentage of Malawians with access to safe drinking water has increased from 40% to 73%, and to sanitation from 47% to 61%.

MDG 8: In 2007, growth exceeded 7% for the third year running.
The average settlement time for commercial disputes has decreased from 337 days in 2006 to 180 days in 2007.