Malawi
As a least-developed country (LDC), Malawi is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) arrangement. The World Bank classifies Malawi as a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $508 in 2024. Total EU imports from Malawi amounted to about €279 million in 2024, and preferential imports to €258 million. after €217 million in 2023.
What is the EBA?
The EBA arrangement covers all LDCs as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products originating in LDCs except for arms and ammunition. Unlike beneficiaries of the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDCs are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements or agreements with the EU.
At a glance: EU preferential imports from EBA beneficiary countries (2024, € million)
21.7M (2024)
Population
Presidential Republic
Government
1.8% (2024)
GDP Growth
32.2% (2024)
Inflation
$ 11.0B (2024)
GDP
Facts about Malawi's economy
Landlocked Economy
Malawi is a landlocked country located in south-eastern Africa. Most of the country is covered with highlands. About one fourth of the country is covered by Lake Malawi.
Export Products
Malawi's top export product by far is unmanufactured tobacco. Other relevant export products are dried peas and beans, groundnuts, soybeans, tea, and raw cane sugar.
Trade Partners
Malawi's trade partners are fairly diversified: The three most important trading partners are South Africa, China, and the UAE, together accounting for about 40% of total trade in 2024. The most important export destination in 2024 was Brazil, followed by the UAE and the EU, and most imports were sourced from South Africa, China, and India.
Economic Structure
Agriculture remains the mainstay of Malawi’s economy with tobacco being the most important crop, together with tea, sugar, and cotton. The industrial sector is mainly focussed on processing agricultural commodities.
Tobacco Production
Tobacco is one of the most important sources of income and accounts for more than half of the country’s total exports. The production concentrates on burley leaf tobacco and amounted to 84 thousand tonnes of tobacco in 2023, the fifth-highest amount globally.
Trade with the EU
Total trade with the EU amounted to €176 million in 2024, making it the sixth most important trading partner for Malawi. It ranks third as an export market for Malawian products, accounting for 10% of total exports, and sixth among suppliers.
Malawi and the EU
Imports from Malawi by product section (2024, € million)
Imports from Malawi over time (€ million)
MALAWI AND THE EU GSP
Economic Impact
96%
A large share of Malawi's exports to the EU were eligible for EBA preferences in 2024.
99%
Malawi's preference utilisation rate in 2024.
99%
Share of zero-duty imports from Malawi in 2024.
Preference utilisation and export diversification
EU imports from Malawi (€ million)
Preference utilisation (%) vs. total eligible imports (in € million)
Almost all EU imports from Malawi are eligible for EBA preferences. The value of eligible imports has fluctuated strongly over the years with an overall decreasing trend - but since 2020 imports have increased again, reaching €260 million in 2024. With a preference utilisation rate consistently above 95% (99% in 2024), Malawi belongs to the countries which take the biggest advantage from the GSP across all three arrangements.
The largest product sections under EBA (€ million, 2024)
The largest product section by far imported under the EBA is tobacco, followed with a great distance by fruit and vegetables, and processed foods and beverages. Tobacco alone accounted for 97% of preferential imports under the EBA, with an increasing tendency. Preferential imports of the other two major product groups both decreased in the period 2022 to 2024, whereas imports of tobacco increased by 21%.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
As a beneficiary of the EBA, Malawi is not required to ratify any conventions to be able to benefit from preferential access to the EU market. Nonetheless, the country has ratified all 27 international conventions listed in the GSP Regulation on human and labour rights, environmental protection and good governance.
Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards
Ratified
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
- Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
- Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
- Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
- Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
- Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
- Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
- Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
- Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)
Additional Conventions
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
- Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
- United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
- United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
- United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
- United Nations Convention against Corruption (2004)
EU-Malawi Bilateral Development Cooperation
DG INTPA
Access all info about EU-Malawi relations on the International Partnerships website.