Highlights
• The minimum average cost of a typical household’s monthly survival expenditure in Malawi increased by 10.8 percent from October to November 2022, reaching a record high at MK 92,200. The continued increase in the prices of maize grain, pulses, fish and sugar significantly contributed to the overall rise in the Survival Minimum Expenditure Basket (SMEB) in the country.
• During this period, the rural Northern Region recorded the highest increase of 13.3 percent in the SMEB while the lowest rise in expenditure of 7.7 percent was observed in the urban areas.
• The cost of the urban SMEB was the highest at MK 107,056 per month compared to the cost in rural areas. Among the rural areas, the cost of the SMEB was the highest in the Southern Region at MK 90,306 per month followed by the Central and Northern Regions where the cost of a November 2022 SMEB was MK 86,162 and MK 85,357, respectively.
• Maize grain was selling at MK 490 per kg in November 2022, an increase of 23.1 percent from MK 398 per kg in the previous month. Prices rapidly increased in the second half of the year, from MK 214 per kg in June.
• The price of beans increased by 8.1 percent to MK 1,644 per kg in the current month from MK 1,521 per kg in October. The prices of cowpeas and pigeon peas also increased by 8.2 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively, during the same period. Cowpeas sold for MK 1,005 per kg while pigeon peas traded at MK 644 per kg.
Source: World Food Programme