Highlights

• The average cost of a typical household’s Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) in Malawi decreased by 1.0 percent to MK 78,398 in early September 2022 from MK 79,200 in the previous round of data collection two weeks earlier.

• The slight decrease in the SMEB was largely driven by lower food and non-food prices in the urban cities and rural Central and Southern Regions. However, the rural Northern Region recorded a marginal SMEB increase of 0.5 percent as non-food costs such as soap and milling went up.

• The cost of the urban SMEB was the highest at MK 94,699 per month compared to the cost in the rural areas. Among the rural areas, the cost of the SMEB was the highest in the Southern at MK 77,868 per month followed by the monthly cost in the Central and Northern Regions of MK 70,793 and MK 70,232, respectively.

• The price of maize grain increased by 0.9 percent to MK 328 per kg in early September, up from MK 322 two weeks prior. The price of beans increased to MK 1,443 per kg an increase of 1.1 percent and that of cowpeas to MK 853 per kg (increasing by 4.0 percent). Pigeon peas sold for MK 584 per kg, a 2.3 percent decrease.

Source: World Food Programme