CONFLICTIQ
HEAD TO HEAD

Malawi vs Zambia

Malawi
33%
RAI
Zambia
67%

Verdict

Zambia holds a 67–33 advantage over Malawi on the Relative Advantage Index, a clear margin.

The margin is driven by military spending (71% of the combined total, $406m) and economic size (GDP) (69% of the combined total, $25.3bn).

1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.

Factor by factor

FactorMalawiShareZambiaWeight
Military spending
SIPRI Milex
$163m
29%71%
$406m33%
Economic size (GDP)
World Bank WDI
$11.3bn
31%69%
$25.3bn27%
Active personnel
COW NMC
11.0k
42%58%
15.0k20%
Logistics & power projection
OurAirports
5
33%67%
1020%

Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.

Full Malawi dossier →Full Zambia dossier →Run a war game →

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Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.

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