Malawi vs South Sudan

Malawi vs South Sudan: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 96.6% of GDP in Malawi and 64.2% of GDP in South Sudan, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 32.3 percentage points, or 1.5 times that in South Sudan.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Malawi vs South Sudan: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 96.6% of GDP in Malawi and 64.2% of GDP in South Sudan, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 32.3 percentage points, or 1.5 times that in South Sudan.
MalawiSouth SudanIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Malawi has been higher since 2020, when it overtook South Sudan.
  • In 2025, Malawi ranked 20 and South Sudan ranked 49 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Malawi at 67.5% of GDP and South Sudan at 46.3% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearMalawiSouth Sudan
202596.664.2
202486.653.7
202384.560.7
202275.742.2
202166.656.4
202053.948.3
201941.243.4
201840.884.3
20174077.5
201637.1128.9
201535.558.2
201433.539.6
201335.417.6
201228.68.9
201120–
201019.3–
200923.5–
200823.5–
200719–
200617.9–
200570.9–
200474.7–
200384.7–
2002101.5–
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearMalawiSouth Sudan
20267843.2
20277543
202871.844.4
202969.645.4
203068.345.7
203167.546.3

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

Malawi vs South Sudan

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