Is your pay rise beating inflation in Malawi?
Prices in Malawi rose 20.0% in the year to August 2026. A pay rise below that leaves you worse off than before.
MK1,000 of last year’s pay now goes as far as MK833.18.
Measured on the Consumer Price Index, published by the International Monetary Fund.
Pay Rise Calculator
Enter a salary and an offer and this will say what the offer is worth once the prices between those dates are taken off it.
What each offer is worth over a year
Prices rose 20.0% in the twelve months to August 2026. Measured against that, this is what MK1,000 of salary becomes under each offer, and what that money actually buys. Anything under MK1,000 in the last column is a cut however it is described.
| Offer | MK1,000 becomes | Which really buys |
|---|---|---|
| 1% | MK1,010.00 | MK841.52 |
| 2% | MK1,020.00 | MK849.85 |
| 3% | MK1,030.00 | MK858.18 |
| 4% | MK1,040.00 | MK866.51 |
| 5% | MK1,050.00 | MK874.84 |
| 6% | MK1,060.00 | MK883.18 |
| 8% | MK1,080.00 | MK899.84 |
| 10% | MK1,100.00 | MK916.50 |
| 20.0%level | MK1,200.21 | MK1,000.00 |
The marked row is the offer that leaves you level over those twelve months. The last column is what each amount buys measured against prices a year earlier, so it can be compared with the MK1,000 you started from. For a gap that is not a year, use the calculator above.
What it took to stand still, year by year
Inflation in Malawi for each of the last ten years, and what a salary left alone was worth by the end of each of them. 2024 took the most, at 32.2%; 2020 took the least, at 8.6%.
| Year | Inflation | MK1,000 fell to |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 21.7% | MK821.62 |
| 2017 | 11.5% | MK896.51 |
| 2018 | 12.4% | MK889.52 |
| 2019 | 9.4% | MK914.32 |
| 2020 | 8.6% | MK920.59 |
| 2021 | 9.3% | MK914.66 |
| 2022 | 21.0% | MK826.76 |
| 2023 | 28.8% | MK776.46 |
| 2024 | 32.2% | MK756.55 |
| 2025 | 28.4% | MK779.00 |
Inflation in a year is that year's average price level against the previous year's, which is the figure Malawi's own statisticians publish.
Two things this does not account for
Tax. Every figure here is gross. A rise is taxed, so what reaches your account is less than the percentage suggests, and where thresholds are frozen a rise can move you into a higher band and take a larger share than the year before. A rise that beats inflation before tax can still leave you worse off after it.
Your own prices. Inflation is an average across everything a typical household buys. If your rent rose, or you drive a long way to work, or you heat a large house, your own figure is higher than the published one and the pay rise you need is bigger.