GDP per capitalrising, says RBM
Malawi’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, an estimate of the value of goods and services produced per person in the country, has been increasing in the past five years, Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) data shows.
The figures contained in the latest RBM Economic Review Report indicate that Malawi’s GDP per capita, which is also considered one of the indicators of a country’s standard of living, has moved from $597.1 (about K615 477) in 2019 to $714.3 (about K758 982) as of April this year.
The figures also show that the country’s population has grown from 18.5 million in 2019 to an estimated 19.8 million as of April 2023, translationg to an average of three percent growth rate.
Ironically, during the review period, GDP growth has averaged 1.5 percent, according to the data.
Economic experts have since cautioned that with such a mismatch between economic growth and rising population, the rise in GDP per capita has done little to improve the standard of living for most Malawians.
Speaking in an interview yesterday, economic statistician Alick Nyasulu said the increase in GDP per capita does not entirely reflect any improvement in people’s standard of living.
He said: “Per capita income is just a broader measure that must be used with caution in assessing the improvement of well-being. In fact our population is growing much faster than GDP which is a cause of concern.
“We remain a low income country and our population is growing much faster than GDP which is a cause of concern.”
Nyasulu said the country needs to pay attention to other measures of well-being such as levels of unemployment, access to health care, quality education, clean water and decent housing, electricity access, income inequality and poverty incidence.
“These measures are less impressive but more critical in understanding whether we are making progress,” he said.
In an earlier interview, development economist and former Reserve Bank of Malawi governor Dalitso Kabambe said people’s earnings are shrinking as commodity prices and the cost of living have both been rising, worsening the suffering of the majority of Malawians.
Meanwhile, through its long-term development strategy, the Malawi 2063, the country envisages moving the country out of poverty by 2063.
The plan proposes growth rates of not less than six percent annually to turn the country into a middle income economy by 2030.
National Planning Commission senior monitoring and evaluation specialist Joy Masache is on record as having said that with the country’s economic growth consistently below three percent, attaining this objective could be a challenge.
“The expectation is that if we were to move to a lower-middle income country, we need at six percent GDP growth annually,” she said.
