Matchup file

Malawi vs Zimbabwe

112 shared metrics.

MalawiLeads in 37

vs112 shared

ZimbabweLeads in 75

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Zimbabwe leads by 38 metrics. Use the same instinct in a quick real-data brawl.

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Country briefing

What matters for both sides

Short real-world notes so the comparison reads like more than a stat strip.

Malawi

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Malawi.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Lake Malawi is estimated to hold the largest number of fish species of any lake.

UNESCO

Zimbabwe

Quick notes before you compare the numbers.

Identity

Formal name: Republic of Zimbabwe.

CIA 2026

Curated stat

Zimbabwe's 100-trillion-dollar note is a real hyperinflation artifact from 2008.

Smithsonian

Analysis

Zimbabwe leads in 75 of 112 shared metrics, while Malawi leads in 37.

Malawi's Broadband Access (%) is 100.0x that of Zimbabwe (202 per 100 people vs 2.0 per 100 people).

Malawi's Education Spending (% GDP) is 6.1x that of Zimbabwe (2.7% of GDP vs 0.38% of GDP).

Malawi's Population Density is 4.3x that of Zimbabwe (223.85 /km² vs 42.24 /km²).

Malawi's Seafood Consumption per Person is 2.5x that of Zimbabwe (10.01 kg/person/yr vs 2.8 kg/person/yr).

Malawi's Liberal Democracy Index is 2.1x that of Zimbabwe (0.46 vs 0.15).

Key Comparisons

Broadband Access (%)Malawi leads

Malawi

202 per 100 people

Zimbabwe

2.0 per 100 people

Education Spending (% GDP)Malawi leads

Malawi

2.7% of GDP

Zimbabwe

0.38% of GDP

Population DensityMalawi leads

Malawi

223.85 /km²

Zimbabwe

42.24 /km²

Seafood Consumption per PersonMalawi leads

Malawi

10.01 kg/person/yr

Zimbabwe

2.8 kg/person/yr

Liberal Democracy IndexMalawi leads

Malawi

0.46

Zimbabwe

0.15

Military SpendingMalawi leads

Zimbabwe

Malawi

Zimbabwe

147

82% lower

Freedom of Expression Index

Malawi

0.75

Zimbabwe

0.41

82% higher

Malawi

6.5% of GDP

Zimbabwe

3.6% of GDP

79% higher

Railway Length

Zimbabwe

Malawi

767 km

Zimbabwe

3.4K km

78% lower

Comparison of Malawi and Zimbabwe across 112 metrics
				Winner
Broadband Access (%)	202 per 100 people	2.0 per 100 people	10000% higher	Malawi
Education Spending (% GDP)	2.7% of GDP	0.38% of GDP	614% higher	Malawi
Population Density	223.85 /km²	42.24 /km²	430% higher	Malawi
Seafood Consumption per Person	10.01 kg/person/yr	2.8 kg/person/yr	255% higher	Malawi
Liberal Democracy Index	0.46	0.15	214% higher	Malawi
Military Spending	1.0% of GDP	0.35% of GDP	192% higher	Malawi
Electoral Democracy Index	0.56	0.27	108% higher	Malawi
FDI Inflows (% GDP)	2.3% of GDP	1.1% of GDP	103% higher	Malawi
Air Passengers	3.5K	92.5K	96% lower	Zimbabwe
CO2 Per Capita	0.09 t/person/yr	0.82 t/person/yr	89% lower	Zimbabwe
Forest Area	21.2K km²	173.1K km²	88% lower	Zimbabwe
Beer Consumption	0.10 L/person/yr	0.69 L/person/yr	86% lower	Zimbabwe
Electricity Carbon Intensity	54.65 gCO2/kWh	384.02 gCO2/kWh	86% lower	Zimbabwe
Airports	27	147	82% lower	Zimbabwe
Freedom of Expression Index	0.75	0.41	82% higher	Malawi
Official Languages Count	3.0	16	81% lower	Zimbabwe
Insufficient Physical Activity	3.4% of adults	17.65% of adults	80% lower	Zimbabwe
Water Stress (%)	8.4%	40.05%	79% lower	Zimbabwe
Health Spending (% GDP)	6.5% of GDP	3.6% of GDP	79% higher	Malawi
Railway Length	767 km	3.4K km	78% lower	Zimbabwe
Electricity Generation	1.8 TWh	8.3 TWh	78% lower	Zimbabwe
Nurses & Midwives	0.50 per 1k	2.1 per 1k	77% lower	Zimbabwe
Lowest Elevation	37 m	162 m	77% lower	Zimbabwe
Land Area	94.3K km²	386.9K km²	76% lower	Zimbabwe
GNI Per Capita	$570	$2,400	76% lower	Zimbabwe
Milk Consumption per Person	8.0 kg/person/yr	31.9 kg/person/yr	75% lower	Zimbabwe
Electricity Access (%)	15.6%	62%	75% lower	Zimbabwe
GDP (Nominal)	$11,316,411,329.46	$41,539,411,516.44	73% lower	Zimbabwe
Water Withdrawal	1.4 B m³	4.9 B m³	72% lower	Zimbabwe
Armed Forces Personnel	15.0K	51.0K	71% lower	Zimbabwe
Electric Generating Capacity	731.0K kW	2.49M kW	71% lower	Zimbabwe
Firms Hit by Power Outages	89.12% of firms	52.54% of firms	70% higher	Malawi
Inflation Rate	32.2%	104.7%	69% lower	Zimbabwe
GDP Per Capita (PPP)	$1,857.62	$5,928.08	69% lower	Zimbabwe
University Enrollment Rate	2.7%	7.7%	65% lower	Zimbabwe
Doctors (per 1,000)	0.05 per 1k	0.14 per 1k	64% lower	Zimbabwe
Total CO2 Emissions	4.8 Mt CO2e	12.86 Mt CO2e	63% lower	Zimbabwe
Credit Card Ownership	0.45% of adults	1.2% of adults	61% lower	Zimbabwe
Urban Population (%)	17.27%	39.89%	57% lower	Zimbabwe
Irrigated Land	740 km²	1.7K km²	57% lower	Zimbabwe
Suicide Rate	7.6 per 100k	17.34 per 100k	56% lower	Zimbabwe
Corruption Perceptions Index	34 pts	22 pts	55% higher	Malawi
Youth Unemployment Rate	6.9% of youth labor force	15.55% of youth labor force	55% lower	Zimbabwe
Agricultural Land (%)	64.17%	41.79%	54% higher	Malawi
Internet Users (%)	18%	38%	53% lower	Zimbabwe
Food Waste per Person	132.84 kg/person/yr	88.01 kg/person/yr	51% higher	Malawi
Forest Coverage (%)	22.44%	44.74%	50% lower	Zimbabwe
Obesity Rate	6.4%	12.43%	49% lower	Zimbabwe
Firms Making Informal Payments	15.94% of firms	31.14% of firms	49% lower	Zimbabwe
Tourism Revenue	$35,000,000	$66,000,000	47% lower	Zimbabwe
Death Rate	3.6 per 1k	6.4 per 1k	44% lower	Zimbabwe
Health Spending Per Capita	$39.66	$70.66	44% lower	Zimbabwe
Sanitation Access (%)	49.23%	34.64%	42% higher	Malawi
Solar Electricity Share	0.55%	0.39%	41% higher	Malawi
Unemployment Rate	5.0%	8.6%	41% lower	Zimbabwe
Firms Asked for Bribes	26.03% of firms	44.46% of firms	41% lower	Zimbabwe
High-Tech Exports (%)	1.6%	2.8%	41% lower	Zimbabwe
UNESCO World Heritage Sites	3.0 sites	5.0 sites	40% lower	Zimbabwe
Average Weekly Work Hours	28.03 hrs/week	46.16 hrs/week	39% lower	Zimbabwe
Women in Senior Management	47.74% of managers	34.42% of managers	39% higher	Malawi
Exports (% GDP)	11.24% of GDP	18.05% of GDP	38% lower	Zimbabwe
Scientific Publications	361.73	563.05	36% lower	Zimbabwe
Alcohol Consumption	3.6 L/adult/yr	2.7 L/adult/yr	35% higher	Malawi
Imports (% GDP)	31.19% of GDP	23.44% of GDP	33% higher	Malawi
Road Traffic Death Rate	20.2 per 100k	29.9 per 100k	32% lower	Zimbabwe
Hypertension Prevalence	30.3% of adults	43.2% of adults	30% lower	Zimbabwe
Capital Elevation	1.1K m	1.5K m	30% lower	Zimbabwe
Safe Drinking Water (%)	18.18%	25.46%	29% lower	Zimbabwe
Infant Mortality	29.4 per 1k births	40.6 per 1k births	28% lower	Zimbabwe
Elderly Population (%)	2.6%	3.6%	28% lower	Zimbabwe
Mobile Subscriptions (%)	69 per 100 people	94 per 100 people	27% lower	Zimbabwe
EV Chargers per 100,000 PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0.01 per 100k people	0.01 per 100k people	27% higher	Malawi
Political Corruption Index	0.63	0.85	26% lower	Zimbabwe
Women in Parliament (%)	20.73%	28.09%	26% lower	Zimbabwe
Population	21.76M	17.47M	25% higher	Malawi
Border Neighbors	3.0	4.0	25% lower	Zimbabwe
Renewable Energy (%)	62.9%	82.4%	24% lower	Zimbabwe
Firms with Female Top Manager	13.51% of firms	17.77% of firms	24% lower	Zimbabwe
Air Pollution (PM2.5)	23.7 µg/m³	19.49 µg/m³	22% higher	Malawi
Tobacco Use Prevalence	8.5% of adults	10.8% of adults	21% lower	Zimbabwe
Government Debt (% GDP)	55.6% of GDP	69.9% of GDP	20% lower	Zimbabwe
Minimum Paid Vacation Days	18 days/yr	22 days/yr	18% lower	Zimbabwe
Protected Land (%)	23.1%	28.3%	18% lower	Zimbabwe
ATMs per 100,000 Adults	4.3 per 100k	3.7 per 100k	17% higher	Malawi
Teen Birth Rate	113.58 per 1k	98.06 per 1k	16% higher	Malawi
Highest Elevation	3.0K m	2.6K m	16% higher	Malawi
Meat Consumption per Person	20.34 kg/person/yr	17.67 kg/person/yr	15% higher	Malawi
Human Development Index	0.52	0.60	14% lower	Zimbabwe
Smoking Rate	9.7%	11.3%	14% lower	Zimbabwe
Child Mortality	38.3 per 1k births	44.2 per 1k births	13% lower	Zimbabwe
Land Border Length	2.9K km	3.2K km	12% lower	Zimbabwe
Spirits Consumption	0.24 L/person/yr	0.21 L/person/yr	11% higher	Malawi
Can Raise Emergency Money	95.15% of adults	86.26% of adults	10% higher	Malawi
Mobile Money Accounts	47.4% of adults	43.33% of adults	9% higher	Malawi
Informal Employment Share	92.65% of employed people	85% of employed people	9% higher	Malawi
Life Expectancy	67.4 years	62.8 years	7% higher	Malawi
Dependency Ratio	76.34% of working-age pop.	80.1% of working-age pop.	5% lower	Zimbabwe
Digital Payments Used	48.86% of adults	46.7% of adults	5% higher	Malawi
Women's Political Empowerment	0.76	0.73	4% higher	Malawi
GDP Growth Rate	1.7%	1.7%	4% lower	Zimbabwe
Fertility Rate	3.3 children/woman	3.4 children/woman	3% lower	Zimbabwe
Life Evaluation Score	3.3 pts	3.3 pts	2% lower	Zimbabwe
Median Age	17.6 years	17.8 years	1% lower	Zimbabwe
Time Zones Count	2.0 time zones	2.0 time zones	equal	Malawi
Coastline Length	0 km	0 km	ranked higher	Malawi
Coal Electricity Share	0%	42.88%	ranked lower	Zimbabwe
Wind Electricity Share	0%	0%	ranked higher	Malawi
Birth Rate	28.04 per 1k	28.18 per 1k	equal	Zimbabwe
Youth Population (%)	40.71%	40.87%	equal	Zimbabwe
Nobel Laureates Born per Million People	0 per 1M people	0.06 per 1M people	ranked lower	Zimbabwe
Current Account Balance (% of GDP)	-16.5% of GDP	4.0% of GDP	ranked lower	Zimbabwe
McDonald's Outlets per Million PeopleSource: © OpenStreetMap contributors - Open Database License (ODbL)	0 per 1M people	0 per 1M people	ranked higher	Malawi

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Malawi Zimbabwe

Analysis

Zimbabwe leads in 75 of 112 shared metrics, while Malawi leads in 37.

Malawi's Broadband Access (%) is 100.0x that of Zimbabwe (202 per 100 people vs 2.0 per 100 people).

Malawi's Education Spending (% GDP) is 6.1x that of Zimbabwe (2.7% of GDP vs 0.38% of GDP).

Malawi's Population Density is 4.3x that of Zimbabwe (223.85 /km² vs 42.24 /km²).

Malawi's Seafood Consumption per Person is 2.5x that of Zimbabwe (10.01 kg/person/yr vs 2.8 kg/person/yr).

Malawi's Liberal Democracy Index is 2.1x that of Zimbabwe (0.46 vs 0.15).

Key Comparisons

Broadband Access (%)Malawi leads

Malawi

202 per 100 people

Zimbabwe

2.0 per 100 people

Education Spending (% GDP)Malawi leads

Malawi

2.7% of GDP

Zimbabwe

0.38% of GDP

Population DensityMalawi leads

Malawi

223.85 /km²

Zimbabwe

42.24 /km²

Seafood Consumption per PersonMalawi leads

Malawi

10.01 kg/person/yr

Zimbabwe

2.8 kg/person/yr

Liberal Democracy IndexMalawi leads

Malawi

0.46

Zimbabwe

0.15

Military SpendingMalawi leads

Malawi

1.0% of GDP

Zimbabwe

0.35% of GDP

Broadband Access (%)

202 per 100 people

2.0 per 100 people

Education Spending (% GDP)

2.7% of GDP

0.38% of GDP

Population Density

223.85 /km²

42.24 /km²

Seafood Consumption per Person

10.01 kg/person/yr

2.8 kg/person/yr

Liberal Democracy Index

0.46

0.15

Military Spending

1.0% of GDP

0.35% of GDP

Electoral Democracy Index

0.56

0.27

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

2.3% of GDP

1.1% of GDP

Air Passengers

3.5K

92.5K

CO2 Per Capita

0.09 t/person/yr

0.82 t/person/yr

Forest Area

21.2K km²

173.1K km²

Beer Consumption

0.10 L/person/yr

0.69 L/person/yr

Electricity Carbon Intensity

54.65 gCO2/kWh

384.02 gCO2/kWh

Airports

147

Freedom of Expression Index

0.75

0.41

Official Languages Count

3.0

Insufficient Physical Activity

3.4% of adults

17.65% of adults

Water Stress (%)

8.4%

40.05%

Health Spending (% GDP)

6.5% of GDP

3.6% of GDP

Railway Length

767 km

3.4K km

Malawi vs Zimbabwe

Think you can spot the next winner?

What matters for both sides

Malawi

Zimbabwe

Analysis

Key Comparisons

All Metrics

Broadband Access (%)

Education Spending (% GDP)

Population Density

Seafood Consumption per Person

Liberal Democracy Index

Military Spending

Electoral Democracy Index

FDI Inflows (% GDP)

Air Passengers

CO2 Per Capita

Forest Area

Beer Consumption

Electricity Carbon Intensity

Airports

Freedom of Expression Index

Official Languages Count

Insufficient Physical Activity

Water Stress (%)

Health Spending (% GDP)

Railway Length

Electricity Generation

Nurses & Midwives

Lowest Elevation

Land Area

GNI Per Capita

Milk Consumption per Person

Electricity Access (%)

GDP (Nominal)

Water Withdrawal

Armed Forces Personnel

Electric Generating Capacity

Firms Hit by Power Outages

Inflation Rate

GDP Per Capita (PPP)

University Enrollment Rate

Doctors (per 1,000)

Total CO2 Emissions

Credit Card Ownership

Urban Population (%)

Irrigated Land

Suicide Rate

Corruption Perceptions Index

Youth Unemployment Rate

Agricultural Land (%)

Internet Users (%)

Food Waste per Person

Forest Coverage (%)

Obesity Rate

Firms Making Informal Payments

Tourism Revenue

Death Rate

Health Spending Per Capita

Sanitation Access (%)

Solar Electricity Share

Unemployment Rate

Firms Asked for Bribes

High-Tech Exports (%)

UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Average Weekly Work Hours

Women in Senior Management

Exports (% GDP)

Scientific Publications

Alcohol Consumption

Imports (% GDP)

Road Traffic Death Rate

Hypertension Prevalence

Capital Elevation

Safe Drinking Water (%)

Infant Mortality

Elderly Population (%)

Mobile Subscriptions (%)

EV Chargers per 100,000 People