Tea, tobacco productions surge in august amid rising inflation

Domestic tea production more than doubled in August 2025, reaching 2.9 million kilograms compared to 1.4 million kilograms produced in July, a Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) Monthly Economic Review for August 2025 says.

The figure also surpassed the 1.6 million kilograms recorded in August 2024.

Despite the production boost, tea sales declined to 1.9 million kilograms from 2.3 million kilograms sold in July, pushing total revenue down to US$2.0 million from US$2.4 million.

However, the average tea price edged up slightly to US$1.06 per kilogram from US$1.04 in the previous month.

In the meantime, tobacco sales for the 2025 season stood at 205.3 million kilograms by the end of August, generating US$517.0 million at an average price of US$2.518 per kilogram.

This marked a significant improvement over the 2024 season, which had closed with 133.1 million kilograms sold for US$396.6 million at a higher average price of US$2.98 per kilogram.

On the pricing front, headline inflation accelerated to 28.2 percent in August, up from 27.3 percent in July. The uptick was driven by rising food and non-food costs.

Food inflation rose to 33.7 percent from 32.4 percent, while non-food inflation inched up to 19.5 percent from 19.3 percent.

Notable increases in non-food categories included Health (up 3.2 percentage points), Alcohol and Tobacco (2.2 points), Clothing and Footwear (2.0 points), and Furnishing and Household items (1.7 points).

Other increases were recorded in Restaurants and Hotels (1.5 points), various goods and services (0.8 points), Communication (0.3 points), and Transportation services (0.2 points).

Monthly inflation also rose, reaching 2.7 percent in August from 2.3 percent in July, reflecting faster increases in both food (3.3 percent) and non-food (1.6 percent) prices.