Business & Markets · Credit to private sector · Malawi
Malawi’s credit to private sector rose to 7.9% of GDP in 2024.
7.9% of GDP
2024
Up 0.16 pp from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
7.9% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up the loans, trade credit and other claims that banks and similar lenders hold against private firms and households, then divides by the size of the economy. It shows how much of national output is matched by borrowing from the financial system. It leaves out lending from informal sources, such as moneylenders and savings groups, and credit that firms raise abroad.
Neither way is good in itself. A higher share can mean firms and families are financing investment, and it can also mean debt is building faster than incomes. A lower share can reflect cautious lending, and it can also reflect businesses short of funds to grow. The latest figure is 7.9% of GDP for 2024, up from 7.7% a year earlier, a rise of 0.16 percentage points. Since 2015 the range runs from a low of 6.8% of GDP in 2018 to a high of 9.2% of GDP in 2015, so the current level sits a little below the middle of that span.
Why it matters. Firms planning to expand and households seeking loans draw on a pool of formal credit worth 7.9% of GDP, below the 9.2% of GDP recorded in 2015. For lenders and regulators, the private debt stock is modest relative to the economy, and the 2024 rise of 0.16 percentage points is a small step. The next annual reading will show whether credit keeps growing alongside output.
| Period | Credit to private sector · Malawi |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 9.2% of GDP |
| 2016 | 8% of GDP |
| 2017 | 7.5% of GDP |
| 2018 | 6.8% of GDP |
| 2019 | 7.2% of GDP |
| 2020 | 7.9% of GDP |
| 2021 | 8.2% of GDP |
| 2022 | 8.6% of GDP |
| 2023 | 7.7% of GDP |
| 2024 | 7.9% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Credit to private sector, Malawi, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/business/private-sector-credit/malawi
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
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Working this out from the published figures…
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Methodology
Domestic credit to the private sector as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series FS.AST.PRVT.GD.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.