The Malawi passport ranking places Malawi ninth among 54 African countries in the 2026 Passport Reports data, while the passport stands 118th globally. Its Mobility Score is 76 and its global access percentage is 38.4%, reflecting 41 visa-free destinations, 29 destinations available through visa on arrival or other simplified arrival arrangements, and six destinations accessible with an electronic travel authorization (eTA).
Those three access categories total 76 destinations, matching the Mobility Score. A further 122 destinations are recorded as requiring a visa in advance. Compared with 2025, when the passport had a Mobility Score of 80 and a global rank of 108, the 2026 figures show a four-point reduction in mobility and a move to 118th place.
African access remains the strongest continental result
Within Africa, Malawian passport holders have a total access rate of 66.0%. The regional breakdown records 17 African destinations as visa-free, 15 under visa-on-arrival or other simplified arrival arrangements, and three under eTA, while 18 require a visa. Visa-free access in the region includes Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, while Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Seychelles are listed in the eTA category.
The data also show several comparatively long permitted stays. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Dominica are listed with 180-day stays in the visa-free category, while Fiji and Vanuatu are listed at 120 days. Nepal appears in the simplified-arrival category with a stay of up to 150 days, and several African destinations, including Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe, are listed at 90 days.
Regional access varies sharply
The Caribbean is the highest-access region in the report for the Malawian passport, with an 87.5% total access rate. Africa follows at 66.0%, North America at 56.5% and Oceania at 50.0%. Asia is recorded at 34.0%, South America at 25.0% and the Middle East at 17.6%.
Europe is much more restricted, with a total access rate of 2.1%: Kosovo is the only European destination listed as visa-free, while 46 European destinations require a visa. Central Asia and the Gulf Countries each record 0.0% total access in the report, with all five Central Asian destinations and all six Gulf destinations shown as visa-required routes.
Other rankings and visa reciprocity
Malawi is ranked 47th out of 199 countries in the Welcoming Countries measure, which looks at the ease with which foreign passport holders can enter Malawi and is separate from the outbound passport ranking. The country is also ninth out of 54 African Union members, 39th out of 56 Commonwealth countries, 66th out of 132 G77 countries and 110th out of 159 WTO members. Among countries grouped by English as an official language, Malawi ranks 42nd out of 60, and among presidential republics it ranks 28th out of 57.
The report’s reciprocity section highlights different directions of travel policy. It identifies 88 countries whose passport holders can enter Malawi visa-free, with eTA or on arrival, while Malawian passport holders require a visa for those countries. It also identifies 13 countries where passport holders need a visa to enter Malawi even though Malawian passport holders can enter those destinations visa-free, with eTA or through an arrival-based arrangement. These inbound conditions are distinct from the outbound passport figures and are reflected in the Malawi visa requirements data.
Mobility history from 2020 to 2026
The historical series shows a Mobility Score of 62 and a global rank of 97 in 2020, followed by scores of 68 in 2021 and 78 in 2022. The score reached 80 in 2023 and remained at 80 through 2025, while the global rank moved from 114th in 2023 to 111th in 2024 and 108th in 2025. In 2026, the score is 76 and the global rank is 118th.
Taken together, the 2026 report shows a Malawian passport that remains inside Africa’s top 10 by continental ranking, with its broadest access concentrated in the Caribbean, Africa, North America and Oceania. The global profile is defined by 76 destinations across visa-free, arrival-based or eTA access and 122 destinations requiring a visa, while the separate welcoming and reciprocity measures describe the conditions Malawi applies to foreign passport holders.
Source: Passport Reports
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