Kenya vs Malawi

Kenya vs Malawi: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 71.3% of GDP in Kenya and 96.6% of GDP in Malawi, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 25.3 percentage points, or 1.35 times that in Kenya.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Kenya vs Malawi: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 71.3% of GDP in Kenya and 96.6% of GDP in Malawi, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 25.3 percentage points, or 1.35 times that in Kenya.
KenyaMalawiIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Malawi has been higher since 2022, when it overtook Kenya.
  • In 2025, Kenya ranked 36 and Malawi ranked 20 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Kenya at 74% of GDP and Malawi at 67.5% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearKenyaMalawi
202571.396.6
202467.386.6
202373.484.5
202267.875.7
202168.266.6
20206853.9
201959.141.2
201856.540.8
201753.940
201650.437.1
201545.835.5
201441.333.5
201339.835.4
201237.628.6
201135.720
201036.719.3
20093623.5
200834.323.5
200734.219
200637.117.9
200537.470.9
200440.874.7
200343.884.7
200242101.5
200141.3–
200043.1–
199938.4–
199838.5–
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearKenyaMalawi
202672.978
202773.875
202874.571.8
202974.469.6
203074.368.3
20317467.5

Each country on its own

Good to know

  • What the government owes, as a share of the economy’s yearly output.
  • Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
  • The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
  • Ranks count the 149 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Kenya vs Malawi

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