Demographics of Malawi

Demographic features of the population of Malawi include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Malawi
Population pyramid of Malawi in 2020
Population20,794,353 (2022 est.)
Growth rate2.34% (2022 est.)
Birth rate27.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Death rate4.58 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Life expectancy72.44 years
 • male69.33 years
 • female75.59 years
Fertility rate3.4 children born/woman (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate33.43 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years45.87%
65 and over2.68%
Nationality
NationalityMalawian
Language
OfficialEnglish

Malawi derives its name from the Maravi, a Bantu people who came from the southern Congo about 600 years ago. On reaching the area north of Lake Malawi, the Maravi divided. One branch, the ancestors of the present-day Chewas, moved south to the west bank of the lake. The other, the ancestors of the Nyanjas, moved down the east bank to the southern part of the country.

By AD 1500, the two divisions of the tribe had established a kingdom stretching from north of the present-day city of Nkhotakota to the Zambezi River in the south, and from Lake Malawi in the east, to the Luangwa River in Zambia in the west. Migrations and tribal conflicts precluded the formation of a cohesive Malawian society until the turn of the 20th century. In more recent years, ethnic and tribal distinctions have diminished. Regional distinctions and rivalries, however, persist. Despite some clear differences, no significant friction currently exists between tribal groups, and the concept of a Malawian nationality has begun to take hold. Predominantly a rural people, Malawians are generally conservative and traditionally nonviolent.

Malawi health passport showing 3 languages most used in Malawi, English (red dot), Chewa (blue dot) and Tumbuka (green dot).

The Chewas constitute 90% of the population of the central region; the Nyanja tribe predominates in the south and the Tumbuka in the north. In addition, significant numbers of the Tongas live in the north; Ngonis—an offshoot of the Zulus who came from South Africa in the early 19th century—live in the lower northern and lower central regions; and the Yao, who are mostly Muslim, predominate in the Southern Region of the country and live in a wide band from Blantyre and Zomba north to Lake Malawi and east to the border with Mozambique. Bantus of other tribes came from Mozambique as refugees.

Population
Demographics of Malawi, Data of Our World in Data, year 2022 ; Number of inhabitants in millions.
Population, fertility rate and net reproduction rate, United Nations estimates

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects[1][2] the total population was 19,889,742 in 2021, compared to only 2 881 000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 45.8%, 51.1% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 3.1% was 65 years or older.[3]

Total population (x 1000) Population aged 0–14 (%) Population aged 15–64 (%) Population aged 65+ (%)
1950 2 88145.751.23.1
1955 3 16645.751.52.8
1960 3 52545.951.62.6
1965 3 97545.352.32.4
1970 4 53146.351.42.3
1975 5 30246.950.62.5
1980 6 24047.150.32.6
1985 7 26847.550.02.5
1990 9 38145.951.42.7
1995 9 88344.752.23.1
2000 11 22945.851.13.1
2005 12 82346.150.93.1
2010 14 90145.851.13.1

Total and Percent Distribution of Population by Single Year of Age (Census 09.03.2018)[4]

Age Population Percent
Total 17,563,749 100
0-4 2,552,406 14.53
0 522,802 2.98
1 509,351 2.90
2 490,811 2.79
3 511,365 2.91
4 518,077 2.95
5-9 2,632,878 14.99
5 529,111 3.01
6 546,708 3.11
7 526,347 3.00
8 532,846 3.03
9 497,866 2.83
10-14 2,533,303 14.42
10 539,264 3.07
11 489,887 2.79
12 517,832 2.95
13 492,122 2.80
14 494,198 2.81
15-19 2,035,945 11.59
15 452,017 2.57
16 339,248 1.93
17 384,682 2.19
18 497,831 2.83
19 362,167 2.06
20-24 1,651,576 9.40
20 357,667 2.04
21 323,511 1.84
22 304,519 1.73
23 330,222 1.88
24 335,657 1.91
25-29 1,229,411 7.00
25 291,198 1.66
26 274,739 1.56
27 213,337 1.21
28 238,630 1.36
29 211,507 1.20
30-34 1,107,226 6.30
30 243,969 1.39
31 209,155 1.19
32 226,360 1.29
33 218,620 1.24
34 209,122 1.19
35-39 968,998 5.52
35 221,078 1.26
36 207,499 1.18
37 165,564 0.94
38 210,252 1.20
39 164,605 0.94
40-44 729,600 4.15
40 168,637 0.96
41 137,967 0.79
42 147,438 0.84
43 151,363 0.86
44 124,195 0.71
45-49 535,868 3.05
45 129,172 0.74
46 121,996 0.69
47 89,576 0.51
48 112,116 0.64
49 83,008 0.47
50-54 387,812 2.21
50 99,632 0.57
51 57,309 0.33
52 63,690 0.36
53 72,671 0.41
54 94,510 0.54
55-59 306,921 1.75
55 69,274 0.39
56 63,914 0.36
57 50,534 0.29
58 75,091 0.43
59 48,108 0.27
60-64 234,918 1.34
60 69,006 0.39
61 38,753 0.22
62 44,264 0.25
63 40,119 0.23
64 42,776 0.24
65-69 240,551 1.37
65 47,861 0.27
66 50,078 0.29
67 35,456 0.20
68 59,659 0.34
69 47,497 0.27
70-74 144,788 0.82
70 39,380 0.22
71 27,618 0.16
72 26,622 0.15
73 31,656 0.18
74 19,512 0.11
75-79 124,718 0.71
75 25,635 0.15
76 28,492 0.16
77 19,096 0.11
78 35,174 0.20
79 16,321 0.09
80-84 63,675 0.36
80 16,846 0.10
81 9,987 0.06
82 12,908 0.07
83 14,208 0.08
84 9,726 0.06
85-89 54,754 0.31
85 12,054 0.07
86 14,628 0.08
87 8,331 0.05
88 15,327 0.09
89 4,414 0.03
90-94 15,130 0.09
90 5,041 0.03
91 2,466 0.01
92 2,746 0.02
93 2,897 0.02
94 1,980 0.01
95+ 13,271 0.08
Age group Population Percent
0-14 7,718,587 43.95
15-64 9,188,275 52.31
65+ 656,887 3.74

UN population projections

Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections [3]

  • 2015 17,522
  • 2020 20,677
  • 2025 24,212
  • 2030 28,173
  • 2035 32,667
  • 2040 37,797
  • 2045 43,521
  • 2050 49,719

Vital statistics

Registration of vital events is in Malawi not complete. The website Our World in Data prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the United Nations.[5]

Mid-year population (thousands) Live births (thousands) Deaths (thousands) Natural change (thousands) Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Total fertility rate (TFR) Infant mortality (per 1000 live births) Life expectancy (in years)
1950 2 950 000   145 000   96 000   49 000 49.2 32.5 16.7 6.80 206.1 32.75
1951   3 001 000   149 000   96 000   53 000 49.6 31.8 17.8 6.81 205.8 32.81
1952   3 056 000   153 000   96 000   57 000 50.1 31.4 18.6 6.83 204.9 32.91
1953   3 115 000   157 000   97 000   60 000 50.5 31.2 19.4 6.85 203.9 33.10
1954   3 176 000   160 000   98 000   62 000 50.4 30.8 19.5 6.79 202.9 33.40
1955   3 240 000   165 000   99 000   66 000 50.9 30.5 20.5 6.83 201.8 33.79
1956   3 309 000   170 000   100 000   70 000 51.4 30.2 21.3 6.87 200.5 34.22
1957   3 381 000   176 000   101 000   74 000 52.0 30.0 22.0 6.91 199.3 34.52
1958   3 457 000   181 000   103 000   78 000 52.4 29.9 22.6 6.95 197.9 34.80
1959   3 537 000   187 000   105 000   82 000 53.0 29.8 23.2 7.00 196.5 35.02
1960   3 621 000   193 000   108 000   85 000 53.3 29.7 23.5 7.03 195.2 35.20
1961   3 708 000   199 000   110 000   89 000 53.7 29.7 24.0 7.07 193.8 35.33
1962   3 799 000   205 000   112 000   93 000 54.0 29.5 24.5 7.10 192.6 35.65
1963   3 894 000   212 000   116 000   96 000 54.3 29.7 24.6 7.13 191.8 35.62
1964   3 990 000   216 000   118 000   98 000 54.1 29.6 24.4 7.10 191.1 35.69
1965   4 089 000   221 000   121 000   100 000 54.1 29.6 24.4 7.11 190.7 35.72
1966   4 191 000   227 000   124 000   103 000 54.2 29.5 24.7 7.16 190.1 35.87
1967   4 296 000   233 000   127 000   107 000 54.3 29.5 24.8 7.22 189.4 35.90
1968   4 403 000   239 000   129 000   110 000 54.3 29.4 25.0 7.28 188.6 36.04
1969   4 513 000   244 000   131 000   113 000 54.1 29.1 25.0 7.29 187.7 36.32
1970   4 625 000   249 000   133 000   117 000 53.9 28.7 25.2 7.32 186.2 36.73
1971   4 742 000   254 000   133 000   121 000 53.6 28.1 25.5 7.33 183.8 37.24
1972   4 866 000   260 000   134 000   127 000 53.5 27.4 26.0 7.35 180.6 37.90
1973   4 996 000   266 000   134 000   132 000 53.2 26.8 26.5 7.36 176.8 38.54
1974   5 134 000   272 000   134 000   138 000 53.0 26.0 26.9 7.37 172.9 39.27
1975   5 281 000   279 000   133 000   146 000 52.9 25.2 27.7 7.40 168.6 40.22
1976   5 438 000   287 000   132 000   155 000 52.8 24.3 28.5 7.43 164.3 41.23
1977   5 612 000   296 000   131 000   164 000 52.7 23.4 29.3 7.46 159.7 42.23
1978   5 809 000   305 000   131 000   174 000 52.6 22.6 30.1 7.48 154.9 43.29
1979   6 029 000 315 000   132 000   184 000 52.5 21.9 30.6 7.51 149.8 44.27
1980   6 267 000   329 000   134 000   195 000 52.6 21.4 31.2 7.57 145.7 45.09
1981   6 520 000   339 000   137 000   203 000 52.3 21.0 31.3 7.54 142.1 45.70
1982   6 784 000   351 000   141 000   210 000 51.9 20.9 31.1 7.51 140.1 45.99
1983   7 058 000   361 000   147 000   214 000 51.3 20.9 30.4 7.44 140.0 46.04
1984   7 339 000   370 000   155 000   215 000 50.7 21.2 29.4 7.36 141.6 45.58
1985   7 625 000   382 000   164 000   218 000 50.3 21.7 28.7 7.29 143.7 44.95
1986   7 910 000   393 000   174 000   220 000 49.9 22.0 27.9 7.22 145.2 44.34
1987   8 296 000   404 000   182 000   222 000 49.5 22.3 27.2 7.15 145.5 43.81
1988   8 755 000   423 000   198 000   225 000 48.9 22.9 26.0 7.02 144.6 43.38
1989   9 175 000   439 000   204 000   234 000 48.3 22.5 25.8 6.91 142.6 43.34
1990   9 540 000   454 000   210 000   244 000 47.8 22.1 25.7 6.81 139.9 43.32
1991   9 832 000   467 000   213 000   253 000 47.5 21.7 25.8 6.72 136.5 43.31
1992   10 115 000   477 000   215 000   262 000 47.2 21.3 25.9 6.65 132.4 43.41
1993   10 257 000   488 000   219 000   269 000 46.9 21.0 25.9 6.59 128.9 43.39
1994   10 132 000   484 000   214 000   270 000 46.6 20.6 26.0 6.51 125.4 43.56
1995   10 113 000   470 000   206 000   264 000 46.3 20.3 26.0 6.42 122.4 43.64
1996   10 311 000   476 000   212 000   264 000 46.0 20.5 25.5 6.31 120.0 43.44
1997   10 513 000   486 000   218 000   268 000 46.1 20.7 25.4 6.26 117.6 43.13
1998   10 732 000   497 000   224 000   273 000 46.2 20.8 25.4 6.24 114.6 42.85
1999   10 974 000   506 000   222 000   284 000 46.0 20.2 25.8 6.15 110.7 43.57
2000   11 229 000   510 000   220 000   290 000 45.4 19.6 25.8 6.04 105.2 44.52
2001   11 499 000   520 000   214 000   306 000 45.2 18.6 26.6 5.99 98.1 45.90
2002   11 784 000   532 000   208 000   324 000 45.1 17.7 27.4 5.96 90.9 47.22
2003   12 088 000   546 000   201 000   345 000 45.1 16.6 28.5 5.94 83.1 48.79
2004   12 411 000   559 000   193 000   366 000 45.0 15.5 29.4 5.93 76.7 50.45
2005   12 756 000   573 000   187 000   387 000 44.9 14.6 30.3 5.91 71.7 52.04
2006   13 118 000   583 000   183 000   400 000 44.4 14.0 30.4 5.84 68.2 53.24
2007   13 495 000   589 000   182 000   407 000 43.6 13.5 30.1 5.74 65.8 53.95
2008   13 889 000   593 000   180 000   413 000 42.7 13.0 29.7 5.61 62.8 54.60
2009   14 299 000   598 000   174 000   424 000 41.8 12.2 29.6 5.45 59.9 55.45
2010   14 718 000   601 000   168 000   433 000 40.8 11.4 29.4 5.27 56.9 56.38
2011   15 146 000   604 000   161 000   444 000 39.9 10.6 29.3 5.11 53.1 57.46
2012   15 581 000   605 000   153 000   452 000 38.8 9.8 29.0 4.92 49.0 58.68
2013   16 025 000   607 000   146 000   461 000 37.9 9.1 28.8 4.78 44.6 59.73
2014   16 478 000   606 000   138 000   468 000 36.8 8.4 28.4 4.61 41.0 60.90
2015   16 939 000   606 000   136 000   470 000 35.8 8.0 27.8 4.45 38.5 61.38
2016   17 406 000   606 000   131 000   475 000 34.8 7.5 27.3 4.31 35.9 62.21
2017   17 881 000   614 000   128 000   486 000 34.3 7.1 27.2 4.22 33.7 62.98
2018   18 368 000   623 000   128 000   496 000 33.9 7.0 27.0 4.14 31.7 63.28
2019   18 867 000   634 000   125 000   509 000 33.6 6.6 27.0 4.07 30.1 64.12
2020   19 377 000   644 000   130 000   514 000 33.2 6.7 26.5 4.00 28.7 63.72
2021   19 890 000   654 000   139 000   515 000 32.9 7.0 25.9 3.92 27.5 62.90

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):[6][7]

Year CBR (Total) TFR (Total) CBR (Urban) TFR (Urban) CBR (Rural) TFR (Rural)
1984 52 7.58
1992 42.9 6.73 (5.74) 40.5 5.51 (4.38) 43.2 6.88 (5.92)
2000 45.5 6.3 (5.2) 40.8 4.5 (3.5) 46.2 6.7 (5.5)
2004 42.4 6.0 (4.9) 37.0 4.2 (3.3) 43.4 6.4 (5.2)
2010 39.2 5.7 (4.5) 36.0 4.0 (3.3) 39.8 6.1 (4.8)
2015-16 32.2 4.4 (3.4) 29.5 3.0 (2.5) 32.6 4.7 (3.6)
2017 32.1 4.2 27.4 2.8 33.0 4.5

Fertility data as of 2016 (DHS Program):[8]

Region Total fertility rate Percentage of women age 15-49 currently pregnant Mean number of children ever born to women age 40-49
Northern4.28.15.7
Central4.47.86.2
Southern4.67.35.7
Total4.47.65.9

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019.[9]

  • One birth every 48 seconds
  • One death every 4 minutes
  • One net migrant every 65 minutes
  • Net gain of one person every 59 seconds

The following demographic are from the CIA World Factbook[10] unless otherwise indicated.

Population
20,794,353 (2022 est.)
19,842,560 (July 2018 est.)
19,196,246 (July 2017 est.)

Religions

Protestant 33.5% (includes Church of Central Africa Presbyterian 14.2%, Seventh Day Adventist/Baptist 9.4%, Pentecostal 7.6%, Anglican 2.3%), Roman Catholic 17.2%, other Christian 26.6%, Muslim 13.8%, traditionalist 1.1%, other 5.6%, none 2.1% (2018 est.)

Age structure
Population pyramid of Malawi in 2020
0-14 years: 45.87% (male 4,843,107/female 4,878,983)
15-24 years: 20.51% (male 2,151,417/female 2,195,939)
25-54 years: 27.96% (male 2,944,936/female 2,982,195)
55-64 years: 2.98% (male 303,803/female 328,092)
65 years and over: 2.68% (2020 est.) (male 249,219/female 318,938)
0-14 years: 46.17% (male 4,560,940 /female 4,600,184)
15-24 years: 20.58% (male 2,023,182 /female 2,059,765)
25-54 years: 27.57% (male 2,717,613 /female 2,752,983)
55-64 years: 3% (male 284,187 /female 310,393)
65 years and over: 2.69% (male 234,776 /female 298,537) (2018 est.)

Birth rate
27.94 births/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 38th
40.7 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 8th
41 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Death rate
4.58 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 206th
7.7 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 100th
7.9 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

Total fertility rate
3.4 children born/woman (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 41st
4 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 9th

Population growth rate
2.34% (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 31st
3.31% (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 3rd
3.31% (2017 est.)

Median age
total: 16.8 years. Country comparison to the world: 221st
male: 16.7 years
female: 16.9 years (2020 est.)
total: 16.6 years. Country comparison to the world: 223rd
male: 16.5 years
female: 16.8 years (2018 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth
18.9 years (2015/16 est.)
note: median age at first birth among women 25-29

Contraceptive prevalence rate
59.2% (2015/16)

Net migration rate
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.) Country comparison to the world: 91st
0 migrants/1,000 population (2017). There is an increasing flow of Zimbabweans into South Africa and Botswana in search of better economic opportunities.

Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 91 (2015 est.)
youth dependency ratio: 85.3 (2015 est.)
elderly dependency ratio: 5.7 (2015 est.)
potential support ratio: 17.4 (2015 est.)

Urbanization
urban population: 18% of total population (2022)
rate of urbanization: 4.41% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
urban population: 16.9% of total population (2018)
rate of urbanization: 4.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)
 
Largest cities or towns in Malawi
According to the 2018 Census[11]
Rank Name Region Pop.
Lilongwe
Lilongwe
Blantyre
Blantyre		 1LilongweCentral989,318
2BlantyreSouthern800,264
3MzuzuNorthern221,272
4ZombaSouthern105,013
5KarongaNorthern61,609
6KasunguCentral58,653
7MangochiSouthern53,498
8SalimaCentral36,789
9LiwondeSouthern36,421
10BalakaSouthern36,308

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 72.44 years. Country comparison to the world: 154th

male: 69.33 years female: 75.59 years (2022 est.)

total population: 62.2 years (2018 est.)
male: 60.2 years (2018 est.)
female: 64.3 years (2018 est.)
total population: 61.7 years
male: 59.7 years
female: 63.8 years (2017 est.)

Sex ratio
  • at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.69 male(s)/female
  • total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2000 est.)

Ratio of medical doctors to general population

1 Doctor/65,000 Malawians [12]

Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2020)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and dengue fever
water contact diseases: schistosomiasis
animal contact diseases: rabies

note: on 21 March 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a Travel Alert for polio in Africa; Malawi is currently considered a high risk to travelers for circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPV); vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) is a strain of the weakened poliovirus that was initially included in oral polio vaccine (OPV) and that has changed over time and behaves more like the wild or naturally occurring virus; this means it can be spread more easily to people who are unvaccinated against polio and who come in contact with the stool or respiratory secretions, such as from a sneeze, of an “infected” person who received oral polio vaccine; the CDC recommends that before any international travel, anyone unvaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, or with an unknown polio vaccination status should complete the routine polio vaccine series; before travel to any high-risk destination, CDC recommends that adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series receive a single, lifetime booster dose of polio vaccine

Nationality
  • noun: Malawian(s)
  • adjective: Malawian

Ethnic groups

[13]

Languages

[13]

Proportion of language speakers in Malawi

  Chewa (49.9%)
  Lomwe (17.6%)
  Yao (13.5%)
  Tumbuka (9.1%)
  Sena (3.6%)
  Tonga (2.1%)
  Makhuwa (1.5%)
  Nyakyusa (1.1%)
  Other (1.6%)

Education expenditures
2.9% of GDP (2020)
country comparison to the world: 159

Literacy
Further information: Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write

total population: 62.1%
male: 69.8%
female: 55.2% (2015 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 11 years (2011)
male: 11 years (2011)
female: 11 years (2011)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 8.5%
male: 6.7%
female: 10.6% (2017 est.)

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Demographics of Malawi.
  1. "World Population Prospects 2022". population.un.org. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. "World Population Prospects 2022: Demographic indicators by region, subregion and country, annually for 1950-2100" (XSLX). population.un.org ("Total Population, as of 1 July (thousands)"). United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision Archived May 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. "2018 Population and Housing Census Main Report" (PDF). Malawi National Statistical Office. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  5. "Population & Demography Data Explorer". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2022-07-22.
  6. "MEASURE DHS: Demographic and Health Surveys". Microdata.worldbank.org. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  7. "STATcompiler". www.statcompiler.com. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  8. "Malawi Demographic and Demographic and Health Survey : Health Survey 2015-16" (PDF). Dhsprogram.com. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
  9. "Malawi Population 2019", World Population Review
  10. Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from "Malawi". The World Factbook (2023 ed.). CIA. Retrieved July 12, 2018. (Archived 2018 edition)
  11. "Malawi". citypopulation.de. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  12. von Bothmer, Eleanore (2009). "Global lack of medical doctors". Development and Cooperation. Frankfurt am Main: Societäts-Verlag. 36 (3): 94. Archived from the original on 2009-07-26.
  13. "Africa :: MALI". CIA The World Factbook. Retrieved 2017-08-04.
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