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Malawi — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Malawi, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
5.07%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +3.5% since 1991
Unemployment for Malawi was 5.07% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 5.72% in 2020. The lowest was 4.69% in 1997 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.10% per year.
Malawi ranks 99 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 53%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Malawi sits below it. It peaked in 2020 and has fallen 11% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 2%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
5.07%
First (1991)
4.90%
Change
+3.5%
Highest
5.72%
in 2020
Lowest
4.69%
in 1997
Average
5.02%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.10%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.07% |
| 2024 | 5.05% |
| 2023 | 5.01% |
| 2022 | 5.02% |
| 2021 | 5.65% |
| 2020 | 5.72% |
| 2019 | 4.96% |
| 2018 | 5.02% |
| 2017 | 5.05% |
| 2016 | 5.01% |
| 2015 | 4.95% |
| 2014 | 4.97% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.