Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi

Malawi: Adequacy of social safety net programs was 4.5% in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
4.5%
Change on year
up 49.5%
World rank
30th
of 35 countries
All-time high
4.5%
in 2019
All-time low
1.0%
in 2013
Years of data
5
2004–2019

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi, 2004–2019

123452004201120192004: 3 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2010: 1.8 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2013: 1 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2016: 3 % of total welfare of beneficiary households2019: 4.5 % of total welfare of beneficiary households

Source: ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB). Measured in % of total welfare of beneficiary households.

Analysis

The most recent figure for adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi is 4.5%, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.

That represents a change of up 49.5% on the previous year and up 149.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi peaked at 4.5% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 1.0%, in 2013.

That places Malawi 30th out of 35 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom quarter.

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi, year by year

Annual values for Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households) in Malawi, 2004 to 2019.
Year % of total welfare of beneficiary households Change
2004 3.0%
2010 1.8% -40.1%
2013 1.0% -43.2%
2016 3.0% +193.4%
2019 4.5% +49.5%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 3.0% 3.0% 3.0% 1
2010s 2.6% 1.0% 4.5% 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 27 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 4.9% compare
  2. 28 Pakistan 4.9% compare
  3. 29 Thailand 4.9% compare
  4. 31 Peru 4.2% compare
  5. 32 Ukraine 4.0% compare
  6. 33 El Salvador 3.2% compare

See the full ranking of 35 places →

More work & labour data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi?
Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi was 4.5% in 2019, according to ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB).
What is the highest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 4.5% in 2019.
What is the lowest adequacy of social safety net programs recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 1.0% in 2013.
How does Malawi rank for adequacy of social safety net programs?
Malawi ranks 30th out of 35 countries with data for 2019.
Is adequacy of social safety net programs rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is up 149.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB), published as part of Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB). Retrieved 16 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/adequacy-of-social-safety-net-programs-percent-of-total-welfare-of-beneficiary-households/malawi/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/adequacy-of-social-safety-net-programs-percent-of-total-welfare-of-beneficiary-households/malawi/">Adequacy of social safety net programs in Malawi</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Adequacy of social safety net programs (% of total welfare of beneficiary households)
Unit
% of total welfare of beneficiary households
Source
ASPIRE: The Atlas of Social Protection - Indicators of Resilience and Equity, World Bank (WB)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
35 places, 348 data points, 2004–2023
Last refreshed

Adequacy of social safety net programs is measured by the total transfer amount received by the population participating in social safety net programs as a share of their total welfare. Welfare is defined as the total income or total expenditure of beneficiary households. Social safety net programs include cash transfers and last resort programs, noncontributory social pensions, other cash transfers programs (child, family and orphan allowances, birth and death grants, disability benefits, and other allowances), conditional cash transfers, in-kind food transfers (food stamps and vouchers, food rations, supplementary feeding, and emergency food distribution), school feeding, other social assistance programs (housing allowances, scholarships, fee waivers, health subsidies, and other social assistance) and public works programs (cash for work and food for work). Estimates include both direct and indirect beneficiaries.