Services, value added (% of GDP) in Malawi
Malawi: Services, value added (% of GDP) was 48.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Services, value added in Malawi, 1980–2025
Source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 48.7% for services, value added in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 10.0% on the previous year and down 8.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, services, value added in Malawi peaked at 53.9% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 27.2%, in 1989.
Malawi ranks 156th of 206 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 46 years of available data.
Services, value added (% of GDP) in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 37.3% | — |
| 1981 | 41.4% | +10.9% |
| 1982 | 41.3% | -0.1% |
| 1983 | 39.8% | -3.7% |
| 1984 | 41.1% | +3.3% |
| 1985 | 38.2% | -7.0% |
| 1986 | 38.9% | +1.9% |
| 1987 | 30.2% | -22.4% |
| 1988 | 30.1% | -0.4% |
| 1989 | 27.2% | -9.7% |
| 1990 | 28.3% | +4.0% |
| 1991 | 33.0% | +17.0% |
| 1992 | 31.6% | -4.5% |
| 1993 | 32.4% | +2.8% |
| 1994 | 51.8% | +59.6% |
| 1995 | 49.6% | -4.3% |
| 1996 | 47.9% | -3.4% |
| 1997 | 52.2% | +9.0% |
| 1998 | 48.3% | -7.4% |
| 1999 | 46.9% | -2.9% |
| 2000 | 45.6% | -2.8% |
| 2001 | 47.8% | +5.0% |
| 2002 | 47.1% | -1.6% |
| 2003 | 46.0% | -2.4% |
| 2004 | 46.5% | +1.1% |
| 2005 | 47.8% | +2.8% |
| 2006 | 48.9% | +2.2% |
| 2007 | 49.6% | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 49.9% | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 50.4% | +1.0% |
| 2010 | 51.2% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 51.7% | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 52.5% | +1.6% |
| 2013 | 52.5% | -0.0% |
| 2014 | 52.6% | +0.3% |
| 2015 | 53.2% | +1.1% |
| 2016 | 53.9% | +1.3% |
| 2017 | 53.1% | -1.5% |
| 2018 | 53.5% | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 52.5% | -1.9% |
| 2020 | 50.3% | -4.1% |
| 2021 | 49.8% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 49.2% | -1.1% |
| 2023 | 45.1% | -8.4% |
| 2024 | 44.2% | -2.0% |
| 2025 | 48.7% | +10.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 48.7% is above the median for low income countries, which is 41.9%, 1.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 48.7% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 48.7%, 100% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Services, value added (% of GDP) in Malawi changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | +59.6% | 32.4% | 51.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 36.5% | 27.2% | 41.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 42.2% | 28.3% | 52.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 48.0% | 45.6% | 50.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 52.7% | 51.2% | 53.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 47.9% | 44.2% | 50.3% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 153 Turkmenistan 48.9% compare
- 154 Madagascar 48.8% compare
- 155 Comoros 48.8% compare
- 157 Zimbabwe 48.2% compare
- 158 Paraguay 48.1% compare
- 159 Democratic Republic of Congo 48.0% compare
More economy & growth data for Malawi
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 2.07 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 4.6 Percent per annum (2029)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, annual growth rate -12.14 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, US dollar, per capita 0.0151 units per person (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, annual growth rate -16.34 % change on previous year (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- SDRs holdings, SDR, per capita 0.0111 units per person (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- IMF holdings of currency, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0125 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is services, value added in Malawi?
- Services, value added in Malawi was 48.7% in 2025, according to Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs).
- What is the highest services, value added recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 53.9% in 2016.
- What is the lowest services, value added recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.2% in 1989.
- How does Malawi rank for services, value added?
- Malawi ranks 156th out of 206 countries with data for 2025.
- Is services, value added rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Country official statistics, National Statistical Offices (NSOs), published as part of Services, value added (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Services industries correspond to ISIC (Rev. 4) divisions 45-99 and includes wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage and communication, financial intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities, public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private households with employed persons, and extra-territorial organizations and bodies. Value added is the contribution to the economy by a producer or an industry or an institutional sector, which is estimated by the total value of output produced and deducting the total value of intermediate consumption of goods and services used to produce that output. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.