Malawi vs Uganda

Malawi vs Uganda: Government debt

Government debt in 2025: 96.6% of GDP in Malawi and 53.2% of GDP in Uganda, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 43.4 percentage points, or 1.81 times that in Uganda.

Watch it change on the map

% of GDP · IMF

Malawi vs Uganda: Government debtGovernment debt in 2025: 96.6% of GDP in Malawi and 53.2% of GDP in Uganda, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Malawi, by 43.4 percentage points, or 1.81 times that in Uganda.
MalawiUgandaIMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026)

What the numbers say

  • Malawi has been higher since 2007, when it overtook Uganda.
  • In 2025, Malawi ranked 20 and Uganda ranked 73 of 149 countries, counting from the highest.
  • The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts Malawi at 67.5% of GDP and Uganda at 57.2% of GDP in 2031.

Every year

% of GDP · IMF

YearMalawiUganda
202596.653.2
202486.651.8
202384.550.4
202275.749.9
202166.650.3
202053.946.8
201941.238
201840.835
20174033.6
201637.131.3
201535.528
201433.524.8
201335.422.1
201228.619.5
20112018
201019.318.4
200923.514.8
200823.515.7
20071917
200617.927.8
200570.942.6
200474.749
200384.755.1
2002101.554.7
2001–51.4
2000–48.6
1999–47.7
1998–45.1
1997–44.2
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
YearMalawiUganda
20267855.1
20277554.9
202871.855.1
202969.656
203068.356.8
203167.557.2

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 Uganda

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