Since early in the colonial period (1891-1964) Malawians have migrated abroad to find better employment opportunities than those available at home. Beginning in the early 19708, this pattern started to change: large numbers of Malawians returned home and many fewer left the country. An important factor to this change was the rapid economic growth of output and employment experienced by the country during most of the 19708. The same economic growth played an important role in redirecting the pattern of internal. migration. This article starts with a brief description of structural change in the economy during the 1970s in order to provide a perspective from which to view migration. Then the author documents the pattern of migration for the periods 1966-76 and 1976-77, and tries to connect some of its specific aspects with details of the ongoing economic changes. Finally, a simple econometric model of the causes of this migration is tested.