Import product diversification index in Malawi
Malawi: Import product diversification index was 0.5282 in 2011. ▲ Rising
Import product diversification index in Malawi, 1995–2011
Source: UNCTAD Statistical Office, also reported in the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics, various issues (http://unctadstat.unctad.org/).
Analysis
Malawi recorded 0.5282 for import product diversification index in 2011.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.1% on the previous year and up 10.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, import product diversification index in Malawi peaked at 0.5433 in 2005 and was at its lowest, 0.4583, in 1998.
Malawi ranks 17th of 53 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Import product diversification index in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 0.4836 | — |
| 1996 | 0.4621 | -4.4% |
| 1997 | 0.468 | +1.3% |
| 1998 | 0.4583 | -2.1% |
| 1999 | 0.5048 | +10.1% |
| 2000 | 0.5124 | +1.5% |
| 2001 | 0.4782 | -6.7% |
| 2002 | 0.5106 | +6.8% |
| 2003 | 0.5263 | +3.1% |
| 2004 | 0.5316 | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 0.5433 | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 0.4804 | -11.6% |
| 2007 | 0.5058 | +5.3% |
| 2008 | 0.5134 | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 0.4756 | -7.4% |
| 2010 | 0.5124 | +7.7% |
| 2011 | 0.5282 | +3.1% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 0.5282 is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.5179, 1.0× the median. (20 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 0.5282 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.5119, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.4754 | 0.4583 | 0.5048 | 5 |
| 2000s | 0.5078 | 0.4756 | 0.5433 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.5203 | 0.5124 | 0.5282 | 2 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More trade data for Malawi
- Commodity Net Export Price Index, Individual Commodities Weighted by 116.66 (2025)
- Commodity Net Export Price Index, Individual Commodities Weighted by 100.91 (2025)
- Commodity Export Price Index, Individual Commodites Weighted by Ratio 99.6 (2025)
- Commodity Export Price Index, Individual Commodites Weighted by Ratio 87.67 (2025)
- Commodity Import Price Index, Individual Commodites Weighted by Ratio 98.71 (2025)
- Commodity Import Price Index, Individual Commodites Weighted by Ratio 65.94 (2025)
- Imports of low carbon technology products, Percent of GDP 0.7726 (2024)
- Imports of low carbon technology products, US dollar (World), per 4.21 units per person (2024)
- Imports of low carbon technology products, US dollar (World), per 0.0081 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Exports of low carbon technology products, US dollar (World), gaps 2.39 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is import product diversification index in Malawi?
- Import product diversification index in Malawi was 0.5282 in 2011, according to UNCTAD Statistical Office, also reported in the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics, various issues (http://unctadstat.unctad.org/).
- What is the highest import product diversification index recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5433 in 2005.
- What is the lowest import product diversification index recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.4583 in 1998.
- How does Malawi rank for import product diversification index?
- Malawi ranks 17th out of 53 countries with data for 2011.
- Is import product diversification index rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 10.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from UNCTAD Statistical Office, also reported in the UNCTAD Handbook of Statistics, various issues (http://unctadstat.unctad.org/), published as part of Import product diversification index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
The diversification index signals whether the structure of imports by product of a given country or group of countries differ from the structure of product of the world. Diversification index that ranges from 0 to 1 reveals the extent of the differences between the structure of trade of the country or country group and the world average. The index value closer to 1 indicates a bigger difference from the world average. It is constructed as the inverse of a Herfindahl index, using disaggregated exports at 4 digits (following the STIC3). This index is a modified Finger-Kreinin measure of similarity in trade. For more information, please consult the article of Finger, J. M. and M. E. Kreinin (1979), “A measure of ‘export similarity’ and its possible uses” in the Economic Journal , 89: 905-12.