Malawi has only managed to achieve 20.9 percent of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) the country, alongside other United Nations (UN) members adopted in 2015.
According to published UN data contained in the April 2025 Update of the UN Common Country Analysis, Malawi’s overall SDG index score is below the global average, with 40.3 percent of the targets registering limited progress while 38.8 percent of the targets are worsening.
Reads the UN update in part: “This reflects the country’s ongoing challenges in several areas, including poverty, health, education and sustainable infrastructure development.
“Despite these hurdles, Malawi has made progress in specific areas, particularly in environmental sustainability.”
The SDG Index ranks Malawi on position 140 out of 166 countries with an SDG index score of 56.75 as at end of 2024.
The overall score measures the total progress towards achieving all 17 SDGs.
The purpose of the SDGs, which have a deadline of 2030, is to provide a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
Meanwhile, UN projects household poverty to increase by utmost 2.6 percent, largely due to shrinking economic activities, coupled with low production, high prices and economic downturns erode their resilience, worsening food insecurity and increasing poverty levels
Malawi adopted the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, which contains 17 SDGs, 169 targets and 230 indicators.
The country began domesticating the SDGs through the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III (2017/22) and later in the Malawi 2063.
According to the data, alignment of Malawi 2063 Malawi Implementation Plan to SDGs at the goal level is at 98.53 percent, signifying that MIP-1 aligns with almost all 17 SDGs.
At the target and indicator levels, 72.19 percent and 53.48 percent of the 169 targets and 244 indicators, respectively align with MIP-1.
According to estimates by UN Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca), successful implementation of the SDGs would require $1.3 trillion annually, of which it is estimated African countries could mobilise a little over 50 percent, leaving a huge financing gap.
On the domestic front, Malawi has launched a new Integrated National Financing Strategy to tap into the World Bank’s expanded private sector investment lab, which is mobilising global capital for job-rich sectors in developing economies.
The key reform themes within the Integrated National Financing Strategy are designed to bridge financing gaps and advance Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development plan, alongside the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking at the launch of the strategy and the SDG Investor Map Narrative Report in Lilongwe recently, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola-Banda said securing diversified financing sources is critical.
“Diversifying sources of finance is not an option, but a necessity,” he said.
