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Malawi

Malawi has a Watch pressure reading, in the middle half.

🟡 Watch

58 / 100

#59 of 206

Chance of a conflict escalation in Malawi in November or December 2026: <0.1% · remote

Chance of a conflict escalation in Malawi in November or December 2026

Government attribution notice published 26 October 2026

What counts
In November or December 2026, organised violence on the territory of Malawi, or with Malawi as an active party, must cause at least 25 battle-related deaths in a calendar month and at least twice the monthly average of the preceding three months. A conflict continuing at a steady high intensity does not meet this escalation threshold.
Months measured
the whole of November 2026 and the whole of December 2026.
Decided by
UCDP Candidate Events data (Uppsala Conflict Data Program), best estimate of battle-related deaths, monthly release. The question will be resolved by 5 Feb 2027 if the required UCDP data are available.
Resolution convention
For records spanning calendar months, deaths are allocated in proportion to inclusive calendar days. Events not assigned to a territory under the frozen UCDP place table are excluded from both the target month's total and the average of its preceding three months. Active party means the country's government is coded as a side by UCDP. Certain active-party attribution is retained, and each event is counted once per country.
Published
25 Oct 2026
Our estimate
<0.1% · remote
If data are unavailable
If the required UCDP data are unavailable by 5 Feb 2027, the question is recorded as Unresolved.

Earlier issues in the forecast record

22 Oct 2026 · October or November 2026

24 Oct 2026 · November or December 2026

Population22.2M
CapitalLilongwe
Area118.5k km²
GDP$14.9B (2025)
CurrencyMWK
LanguagesEnglish, Chewa
Armed forces15k (2020)
L1 Identity
n/a · identity, no pressure reading
L2 Economy
85
L3 Politics
60.5
L4 Events
63.3
L5 Information
71.39
L6 Society
82.5

Layer readings: method v1.1, from each layer's documented record, same 0-100 scale as country score. Snapshot 28 Oct 2026.

Since 1946

Highest decade mean 89.8 (1946-1949); lowest 64 (2020-2025).

Details

Recorded events 42 · Country record

  • 2025election
  • 1 Nov 2023external support
  • 16 Jan 2020street pressure
  • 2020election
  • 6 Aug 2019street pressure
  • 2019election
  • 1 Apr 2018external support
  • 2016currency stress
  • 2014election
  • 2013currency stress
  • 1 Jul 2012external support
  • 2012currency stress
Show all 42
  • 1 Feb 2010external support
  • 2009election
  • 1 Dec 2008external support
  • 26 Jul 2006street pressure
  • 17 Apr 2006street pressure
  • 1 Jan 2006capital controls
  • 1 Aug 2005external support
  • 2004election
  • 2003currency stress
  • 2001currency stress
  • 1 Dec 2000external support
  • 2000currency stress
  • 1999currency stress
  • 1999election
  • 1998currency stress
  • 1997currency stress
  • 1 Jan 1996capital controls
  • 1996currency stress
  • 1 Oct 1995external support
  • 1995currency stress
  • 1 Nov 1994external support
  • 1994currency stress
  • 1994election
  • 1993currency stress
  • 1992currency stress
  • 1985currency stress
  • 1985sovereign stress
  • 1984currency stress
  • 1 Apr 1981external support
  • 1980sovereign stress

public country snapshot archive, frozen 10 July 2026. The chart shows mapped historical scores through 2025, with bands at 55, 65 and 80. The 2026 snapshot uses a separate score scale. Its archived crisis category is independent of that number. No numerical change from 2025 to 2026 is implied.

Malawi · historical scale through 2025
YearMapped historical scoreHistorical bandRecord
194695.0Crisisarchive reading
194795.0Crisisarchive reading
194895.0Crisisarchive reading
194974.1Strainarchive reading
195094.8Crisisarchive reading
195194.8Crisisarchive reading
195294.8Crisisarchive reading
195394.7Crisisarchive reading
195494.8Crisisarchive reading
195574.9Strainarchive reading
195674.9Strainarchive reading
195774.9Strainarchive reading
195874.9Strainarchive reading
195994.8Crisisarchive reading
196074.9Strainarchive reading
196174.4Strainarchive reading
196294.0Crisisarchive reading
196374.4Strainarchive reading
196483.7Crisisarchive reading
196582.3Crisisarchive reading
196683.4Crisisarchive reading
196795.0Crisisarchive reading
196881.7Crisisarchive reading
196978.8Strainarchive reading
197078.3Strainarchive reading
197177.9Strainarchive reading
197277.1Strainarchive reading
197376.6Strainarchive reading
197476.1Strainarchive reading
197575.7Strainarchive reading
197678.0Strainarchive reading
197778.6Strainarchive reading
197878.3Strainarchive reading
197975.5Strainarchive reading
198085.4Crisisarchive reading
198195.0Crisisarchive reading
198285.1Crisisarchive reading
198384.8Crisisarchive reading
198473.7Strainarchive reading
198584.7Crisisarchive reading
198684.6Crisisarchive reading
198795.0Crisisarchive reading
198884.5Crisisarchive reading
198982.4Crisisarchive reading
199084.4Crisisarchive reading
199182.2Crisisarchive reading
199295.0Crisisarchive reading
199390.1Crisisarchive reading
199495.0Crisisarchive reading
199587.2Crisisarchive reading
199684.2Crisisarchive reading
199783.4Crisisarchive reading
199882.8Crisisarchive reading
199987.5Crisisarchive reading
200089.0Crisisarchive reading
200195.0Crisisarchive reading
200287.2Crisisarchive reading
200386.9Crisisarchive reading
200484.9Crisisarchive reading
200582.0Crisisarchive reading
200679.9Strainarchive reading
200778.5Strainarchive reading
200877.6Strainarchive reading
200977.4Strainarchive reading
201076.8Strainarchive reading
201178.7Strainarchive reading
201289.4Crisisarchive reading
201379.9Strainarchive reading
201479.8Strainarchive reading
201574.7Strainarchive reading
201678.3Strainarchive reading
201774.5Strainarchive reading
201873.9Strainarchive reading
201983.6Crisisarchive reading
202070.3Strainarchive reading
202169.6Strainarchive reading
202271.2Strainarchive reading
202371.9Strainarchive reading
202460.8Watcharchive reading
202540.3Calmarchive reading
Malawi · 2026 snapshot, frozen 10 July 2026
Snapshot yearScore on the separate 2026 scaleIndependent archived crisis categoryRecord
202658.0Strainarchive reading

Years like now

3 similar years · Closest: Poland, 2005

Details

POL, 2005

Published archive distance 0.29. This similarity is not a forecast.

GNQ, 2007

Published archive distance 0.3108. This similarity is not a forecast.

SLV, 2002

Published archive distance 0.3282. This similarity is not a forecast.

Last cycles

Last change: 27 Aug 2026, 1 field.

Details
Country change history for Malawi
CycleDateFields changedLayer distance from baselineRecord
date unavailable2026-10-280Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
17 Oct 20262026-10-170Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
6 Oct 20262026-10-060Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
25 Sep 20262026-09-250Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
14 Sep 20262026-09-140Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
4 Sep 20262026-09-040Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
27 Aug 20262026-08-271Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
14 Aug 20262026-08-144Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 2 · Information: 1 · Society: 1Reconstructed from archived cycle files
2 Aug 20262026-08-020Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
29 Jul 20262026-07-29T13:40:26Z0Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Reconstructed from archived cycle files
10 Jul 20262026-07-10T00:30:00Z0Identity: 0 · Economy: 0 · Politics: 0 · Events: 0 · Information: 0 · Society: 0Original public record
🟢 Calm <55🟡 Watch 55-<65🟠 Strain 65-<80🔴 Crisis 80-100

Snapshot 28 Oct 2026 · Public country snapshot · Data notices

Technical detail

Field sources carry their own dates (shown in each detail).

Record support

How well documented each layer of this country's record is (share of confirmed and sourced fields). Not a pressure reading.

L1 Identity60%
L2 Economy81%
L3 Politics69%
L4 Events48%
L5 Information50%
L6 Society70%

Source: Hendeka record audit, snapshot 28 Oct 2026

Phase 2Confidence 65.7

Malawi in this snapshot

Malawi (MWI) records Watch pressure at 58.0 of 100 and touches 0 mapped pressure points.

The recorded country pattern is stressed; its numbered pressure band is 2. The source confidence score is 65.7.

Snapshot 28 Oct 2026. Dataset published 2026-11-05T08:17:49Z. Source: public country snapshot public country index.

5 public layer readings; 0 mapped pressure points in this dated snapshot; 11 country change records; 81 archive readings. Identity is descriptive; absent readings are named beside each layer.

Malawi has pressure score 58/100 in Watch. 58 of 206 public Atlas entries have a higher score; 11 share this score. Its competition rank is 59. This is the published snapshot, not the mapped historical scale.

Adjacent entries in score-descending order (ties by case-folded name, then ISO3): Madagascar (MDG), 58/100, tied; Nicaragua (NIC), 58/100, tied.

Malawi's highest decade mean is recorded in 1946-1949 (4 readings, mean 89.8). The lowest is 2020-2025 (6 readings, mean 64). Calendar decades use available years only; edge decades are partial. These means are calculated from published mapped scores, not the latest pressure scores.

Malawi: published archive aggregates by calendar decade
Observed yearsReadingsMeanMinimumMaximumAt or above 80
1946-1949489.874.1953
1950-19591086.874.994.86
1960-19691082.374.4956
1970-19791077.275.578.60
1980-19891085.573.7959
1990-19991087.282.29510
2000-20091083.877.4956
2010-2019107973.989.42
2020-202566440.371.90

Across 80 annual readings (1946-2025), Malawi's mapped-score peak is 95 in 1946-1948, 1967, 1981, 1987, 1992, 1994, 2001; the minimum is 40.3 in 2025.

Malawi is at or above the historical threshold 55 in 79 of 80 readings: 1946-2024. The remaining 1 are below 55.

Malawi is at or above the historical threshold 65 in 78 of 80 readings: 1946-2023. The remaining 2 are below 65.

Malawi is at or above the historical threshold 80 in 42 of 80 readings: 1946-1948, 1950-1954, 1959, 1962, 1964-1968, 1980-1983, 1985-2005, 2012, 2019. The remaining 38 are below 80.

The latest observed annual historical-band change for Malawi is 2024 to 2025: Watch (60.8) to Calm (40.3). This compares annual historical readings; it does not describe a change between published country snapshots.

Malawi records no changed fields against the previous measured cycle at date unavailable (2026-10-28); previous cycle: 17 Oct 2026. Layer counts are distances from baseline, not cycle-change components.

Pressure point readings and their own snapshot date are shown in Pressure points.

CassandrIA A free public observatory of country pressure

CassandrIA, country pressure and conflict escalation forecasts