Malawi Cost of Living

The price level ratio, or price level index, is the ratio of a purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor to the corresponding market exchange rate between two countries. For this series the base country is the United States. It provides a measure of the differences in price level between the country and the United States by indicating the number of units of the common currency (US dollars) needed to buy the same volume of the aggregation level in each country. At the level of GDP, the price level ratio provides a measure of the differences in the general price levels of countries.

The purchasing power parity (PPP) conversion factor is a currency conversion factor and a spatial price deflator. PPPs convert different currencies to a common currency and, in the process of conversion, equalize their purchasing power by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries, thereby allowing volume or output comparisons of gross domestic product (GDP) and its expenditure components. This conversion factor is for the level of GDP and the base currency is the US dollar.

This indicator provides values for gross domestic product (GDP) expressed in current international dollars, converted by purchasing power parities (PPPs). PPPs account for the different price levels across countries and thus PPP-based comparisons of economic output are more appropriate for comparing the output of economies and the average material well-being of their inhabitants than exchange-rate based comparisons. Gross domestic product is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period. It can be measured in three different ways: using either the expenditure approach, the income approach, or the production approach. This series has been linked to produce a consistent time series to counteract breaks in series over time due to changes in base years, source data and methodologies. Thus, it may not be comparable with other national accounts series in the database for historical years. The core indicator has been divided by the general population to achieve a per capita estimate. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. The PPP conversion factor is a currency conversion factor and a spatial price deflator. PPPs convert different currencies to a common currency and, in the process of conversion, equalize their purchasing power by eliminating the differences in price levels between countries, thereby allowing volume or output comparisons of GDP and its expenditure components.

Inflation as measured by the consumer price index reflects the annual percentage change in the cost to the average consumer of acquiring a basket of goods and services that may be fixed or changed at specified intervals, such as yearly. This indicator denotes the percentage change over each previous year of the constant price (base year 2015) series in United States dollars.

Index of the prices of consumption goods and services, as compared to a certain reference period (2010=100).