April Consumer Price Index

Malawi inflation drops to 29.2 percent
in April 2025
The decline in the overall
percentage change of the price level is primarily driven by a slower rate of
increase in food prices recorded in April 2025 compared to April 2024. Although
the decrease in the overall price level was observed in both periods, the decline
was more pronounced in April 2025. This contributed to a lower year-on-year
inflation rate registered in April 2025.
Table 1: Inflation rates and
CPIs for February to April 2024 and 2025
Month |
Inflation rate (%) |
Overall CPI (Dec 2021=100) |
|
|
Year on Year
2025 2024 |
Monthly
2025 2024 |
2025 2024 |
February |
30.7 33.5 |
3.8 2.2 |
235.0 179.8 |
March |
30.5 31.8 |
0.8 0.9 |
236.8 181.5 |
April |
29.2 32.3 |
-2.9 -2.0 |
229.9 177.9 |
Food prices, major driver of inflation
Food prices remain the major
driver of Inflation rates in Malawi. With the onset of the harvest season,
prices of some food items such as maize grains and its products (e.g. maize
flour), rice and vegetables declined in the month of April 2025. As a result,
the food index declined compared to what has been observed in recent months. A
comparison of the food price increase over the last 12 months shows that in
April 2025, food prices decreased at a higher rate compared to April 2024,
resulting in a decline in the Food Year-on-Year inflation rate.
Non-food inflation rate up to 19.4
percent
On the other hand, the Non-Food
Index increased over the same period due to price increases in the following
categories: Clothing and Footwear, Furnishings and Household, Restaurant and
Hotels and lastly, Housing, Water and Electricity. Overall, the increase in the
non-food index is higher compared to the same period in 2024, resulting in an
increase in the non-food Year-on-Year inflation rate.
Year-on-Year inflation rate
While overall prices of food
and non-food items decreased in April 2025, the magnitude of the decline is
slightly higher than what was recorded in April 2024, resulting in a decline in
Year-on-Year inflation rate.
Month-to-month
The month-to-month percentage
change in the overall price level of goods and services at the national level for
April 2025 stands at -2.9 percent compared to 0.8 percent registered the
previous month. Food inflation rate is at -4.9 percent while Non-Food inflation
rate is at 0.7 percent. The urban month-to-month inflation rate is at -0.7
percent. Urban food and non-food inflation rates stand at -2.4 percent and 2.0
percent, respectively. The rural month-to-month inflation rate is at -2.9
percent. Rural Food and Non-Food inflation rates stand at -5.4 percent and 2.2
percent, respectively.