Demographics of Malawi

Source UN (World Population Prospects 2024)
Date16 Oct 2024

As of 2024, the population of Malawi is projected at 21.66 million, compared to 21.10 million in 2023. It ranks 62nd in the world by population and 21st in Africa. The population growth rate in 2024 is projected at 2.58 percent, the 22nd highest among 237 countries and dependent territories.

There are 10.57 million males and 11.09 million females in Malawi. The percentage of the male population is 48.8%, compared to 51.2% of the female population. Malawi has 521k more females than males. The sex ratio in Malawi in 2024 will be 95.300 males per 100 females. Malawi is in the 63rd position in terms of the female-to-male ratio.

  • Population
  • Growth rate
  • Gender

Malawi population

Year Population Growth (%) M per 100 F
MaleFemaleTotal
19501,414,4491,535,8512,950,3001.7192.095
19551,558,1001,688,4443,246,5432.0692.280
19601,744,1681,883,9663,628,1342.3692.580
19651,973,3902,122,7674,096,1572.4492.963
19702,236,7022,397,2424,633,9442.4893.303
19752,558,6082,728,7585,287,3672.8593.765
19803,035,4513,230,0786,265,5293.9193.975
19853,692,9273,927,5827,620,5083.8294.025
19904,629,4054,916,4479,545,8523.3794.162
19954,937,2765,212,84110,150,1171.9794.714
20005,505,5705,810,37211,315,9422.4194.754
20056,224,2086,615,82412,840,0312.7294.081
20107,197,0707,629,39214,826,4632.9494.333
20158,315,7978,769,79017,085,5872.7394.823
20209,522,27510,011,61219,533,8882.6295.112
20219,774,48710,272,77120,047,2582.5795.149
202210,030,97610,537,75220,568,7282.5795.191
202310,295,09610,809,38621,104,4822.5795.242
202410,567,04411,088,24221,655,2862.5895.300
  • Life expectancy
  • Median age
  • Fertility rate

Demographics Indicators

YearLife expectancy Median ageFertility rate
195032.66016.1446.824
195533.58116.7636.843
196034.98617.1147.042
196535.74017.3737.126
197036.63816.9177.295
197540.07916.3857.359
198044.33116.2397.518
198544.56816.1987.170
199043.57516.2096.740
199543.80415.7336.392
200046.17015.6916.002
200552.46915.7225.848
201057.78715.6545.263
201562.32415.9794.384
202065.21616.8973.877
202164.78217.1093.791
202266.03717.3353.720
202367.35317.5803.648
202467.56117.8413.590
  • Total
  • Crude

Malawi death and birth rate

Year Total Crude(per 1000)
DeathBirthCrude deathCrude birth
195095,476145,95232.36149.470
195599,948166,79930.78651.377
1960109,210194,92830.10153.727
1965121,597221,63829.68654.109
1970133,228250,04828.75053.960
1975133,492278,74425.24752.719
1980137,479330,22521.94252.705
1985167,556383,73721.98850.356
1990212,217462,37022.23148.437
1995208,645475,39020.55646.836
2000203,932504,37018.02244.572
2005183,869564,99914.32044.003
2010158,766603,22710.70840.686
2015130,573603,0527.64235.296
2020120,892635,5556.18932.536
2021125,436642,8266.25732.066
2022119,361652,8125.80331.738
2023113,181662,2895.36331.381
2024114,589674,4075.29231.143
  • Population
  • Urbanization

Urban and rural population of Malawi

Year Population Urban (%)
UrbanRural
1950103,5602,850,3113.506
1955127,6213,124,7113.924
1960158,8483,459,7474.390
1965199,1883,859,4854.908
1970278,6464,325,0776.053
1975404,9864,887,8227.652
1980557,7715,605,3099.050
1985732,8616,478,24410.163
19901,090,9928,346,56111.560
19951,314,2788,594,81013.263
20001,662,0509,714,12214.610
20051,962,98211,076,72915.054
20102,357,58112,809,51415.544
20152,866,70014,706,90716.313
20203,534,83616,748,85517.427
20213,691,08117,168,11017.695
20223,855,79417,589,67417.980
20234,029,57818,013,68018.280
20244,213,13518,440,49018.598
  • Population pyramid
  • Gender ratio

Malawi population by Age Group (2024)

Age group Male Female Total M per 100 F
PersonsShare (%)
00-04 1,569,128 1,560,565 3,129,693 14.45 100.549
05-09 1,443,018 1,440,789 2,883,807 13.32 100.155
10-14 1,395,700 1,405,703 2,801,403 12.94 99.288
15-19 1,274,895 1,296,125 2,571,020 11.87 98.362
20-24 1,048,561 1,070,910 2,119,471 9.79 97.913
25-29 867,533 899,693 1,767,226 8.16 96.425
30-34 708,727 781,788 1,490,515 6.88 90.655
35-39 583,797 688,203 1,272,000 5.87 84.829
40-44 506,996 564,553 1,071,550 4.95 89.805
45-49 382,755 374,408 757,163 3.50 102.229
50-54 253,216 269,019 522,236 2.41 94.126
55-59 172,250 230,625 402,876 1.86 74.688
60-64 130,254 176,041 306,294 1.41 73.991
65-69 92,924 116,194 209,117 0.97 79.973
70-74 61,459 82,380 143,839 0.66 74.604
75-79 42,233 66,079 108,312 0.50 63.913
80-84 22,386 39,846 62,231 0.29 56.181
85-89 8,540 18,076 26,616 0.12 47.245
90-94 2,217 5,760 7,977 0.04 38.490
95-99 403 1,281 1,683 0.01 31.460
100+ 53 203 256 0.00 26.108
Total 10,567,045 11,088,241 21,655,285 95.300