Plugs and voltage
Malawi uses Type G sockets. Mains supply is 230 V at 50 Hz.
At 230 V, devices made only for 100–127 V (many American and Japanese hair dryers, curling irons and some shavers) will be damaged without a step-down converter. Chargers labelled “100–240V” work fine with just a plug adapter.
Money
MWK Malawian Kwacha MWK
Average in 2023: 1 USD = 1,161 MWK (World Bank). No daily reference rate is published for this currency by the ECB; check a live rate before exchanging.
Price level 34 (US = 100, 2023)
Everyday household prices in Malawi are about 34% of US prices when converted at market exchange rates: cheaper than the median country (50). All countries
Language
- Englishofficial63%
- Nyanjaofficial63%
Bars show the share of the population that speaks each language (CLDR estimates).
Time
Malawi is on UTC+2, with no daylight saving time.
Driving
Traffic in Malawi drives on the left, so the steering wheel is on the right. All left-driving countries
Public holidays in the next 12 months
13 national public holidays from 2 November 2026. Banks, offices and many shops close; regional holidays are not shown. Dates marked “estimated” follow a lunar calendar and can move by a day.
December 2026
- Christmas Day
- Boxing Day
- Boxing Day (observed)
January 2027
- New Year's Day
- John Chilembwe Day
March 2027
- Martyrs Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
May 2027
- Labour Day
- Labour Day (observed)
- Kamuzu Day
July 2027
- Independence Day
October 2027
- Mother's Day
Travel advisories
United States · State Department
Level 2 Exercise increased caution
Read the full advisory. Checked 2026-11-02.
United Kingdom · FCDO
No warnings The FCDO does not advise against travel to Malawi.
Updated 2026-10-20. Read the full advice. Checked 2026-11-02.
Advisories are written for each government's own citizens and change without notice: read the original before you travel.
Other practical facts
- Calling code
- +265
- Internet domain
- .mw
- Measurement
- Metric
- Paper size
- A4
- Week starts on
- Monday
- Read more
- Wikipedia
More in Eastern Africa
Flag: Flag of Malawi.svg, Public domain. Arms: Coat of arms of Malawi.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, Sodacan. Electricity: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), see methodology.
