Country Information - Malawi

ECONOMIC BACKGROUND Landlocked Malawi ranks among the world's least developed countries. The economy is predominately agricultural, with about 90% of the population living in rural areas. Agriculture accounts for 40% of GDP and 88% of export revenues. The economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the IMF, the World Bank, and individual donor nations. In late 2000, Malawi was approved for relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program. The government faces strong challenges, e.g., to fully develop a market economy, to improve educational facilities, to face up to environmental problems, and to deal with the rapidly growing problem of HIV/AIDS. The performance of the tobacco sector is key to short-term growth. (Source: World Factbook, 2002) Click here for Country Map [23kB]

BI-LATERAL TRADE OVERVIEW The total $-value of bi-lateral trade between Malawi and the United States has over the past few years remained fairly constant. Trade between the two countries is skewed towards net exports from Malawi, the country recording a trade surplus with the US of $ 40 in 2002 (2001: $ 65 million). Malawi's exports to the US consist almost exclusively of 'agricultural products', followed by 'textiles and apparel'. Of the apparel exports, all are currently exported to the U.S. under AGOA (see link to Country Trade Profile below). Due to the concentrated nature of goods exports from Malawi to the US, two thirds of the country's goods qualify for the duty-free benefits of AGOA. Click here for Detailed Trade Profile