With a median age of just 18.3 years and over 40% of its population under 14, Malawi is a remarkably young and rapidly growing nation poised at a critical economic and demographic crossroads.
Key Takeaways
- Malawi's total population as of 2023 is estimated at 21,351,811 people
- The population growth rate in Malawi for 2023 is 2.72% annually
- Malawi's median age is 18.3 years as of 2023, with males at 17.8 years and females at 18.8 years
- Malawi's GDP (current US$) was $13.07 billion in 2023
- GDP growth (annual %) in Malawi was 1.7% in 2023
- GDP per capita (current US$) in Malawi is $617.3 in 2023
- Malawi's HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate is 8.9% (2022 est.)
- 360,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi (2022 est.)
- 13,800 HIV/AIDS deaths in Malawi annually (2022 est.)
- Net enrollment rate in primary education is 90.5% in Malawi 2022
- Primary completion rate (gross) is 116.3% in Malawi 2022
- Pupil-teacher ratio in primary education is 59.5 students per teacher in Malawi 2022
- Malawi's total land area is 118,484 sq km
- Arable land constitutes 34.5% of Malawi's land area in 2022
- Forest area is 32.5% of land area in Malawi 2022
Malawi's young, growing population faces persistent economic and health challenges.
Demographics
- Malawi's total population as of 2023 is estimated at 21,351,811 people
- The population growth rate in Malawi for 2023 is 2.72% annually
- Malawi's median age is 18.3 years as of 2023, with males at 17.8 years and females at 18.8 years
- Urban population in Malawi constitutes 17.5% of the total population in 2023
- Life expectancy at birth in Malawi is 71.12 years for the total population in 2023
- Malawi's total fertility rate is 3.52 children per woman in 2023
- Net migration rate for Malawi is -1.45 migrant(s)/1,000 population in 2023
- Population density in Malawi is 212 people per sq km as of 2023
- Age structure shows 40.3% of Malawi's population aged 0-14 years in 2023
- 55.9% of Malawi's population is aged 15-64 years in 2023
- Only 3.8% of Malawi's population is aged 65 and over in 2023
- Malawi has 51.9% female population and 48.1% male in 2023
- Chewa ethnic group makes up 33.1% of Malawi's population
- Lomwe ethnic group comprises 18% of Malawi's population
- Yao ethnic group accounts for 14.1% of Malawi's population
- English is the official language spoken by 15.6% of Malawi's population as first language
- Chichewa is spoken by 77.3% as first language in Malawi
- 77.3% of Malawi's population is Christian
- 19.2% of Malawi's population follows folk religions
- 2.1% Muslim population in Malawi
- Malawi's population dependency ratio is 89.2% in 2023
- Youth dependency ratio in Malawi is 79.3% as of 2022
- Elderly dependency ratio is 9.9% in Malawi in 2022
- International migrant stock in Malawi is 89,399 persons in 2020
- Malawi's population aged 15-24 is 20.1% in 2023
- Central Region of Malawi has 8,157,000 population in 2023
- Northern Region population is 2,254,000 in Malawi 2023
- Southern Region has 10,941,000 people in Malawi 2023
- Blantyre district population is 2,466,000 in 2023
- Lilongwe district has 3,175,000 residents in 2023 Malawi
Demographics Interpretation
Malawi is demographically a sprinting teenager, with nearly half its population under fifteen and a staggering growth rate, meaning its future is both bursting with potential and straining under the weight of its own youthful momentum.
Economy
- Malawi's GDP (current US$) was $13.07 billion in 2023
- GDP growth (annual %) in Malawi was 1.7% in 2023
- GDP per capita (current US$) in Malawi is $617.3 in 2023
- Inflation, consumer prices (annual %) was 28.8% in Malawi 2023
- Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) is 19.5% (2021) in Malawi
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (% of GDP) is 24.44% in Malawi 2023
- Industry (including construction), value added (% of GDP) is 28.09% in Malawi 2022
- Services, value added (% of GDP) is 47.47% in Malawi 2022
- Exports of goods and services (% of GDP) is 16.28% in Malawi 2023
- Imports of goods and services (% of GDP) is 36.85% in Malawi 2023
- Current account balance (% of GDP) is -8.9% in Malawi 2023
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP) is 1.2% in Malawi 2022
- Total reserves (includes gold, current US$) are $432.1 million in Malawi 2023
- Central government debt, total (% of GDP) is 88.3% in Malawi 2023
- Tax revenue (% of GDP) is 12.8% in Malawi 2022
- Official exchange rate is 1,030 Malawian kwacha per US$ in 2023 average
- Tobacco accounts for 50% of Malawi's export earnings
- Tea exports contribute about 9% to Malawi's foreign exchange
- Sugar exports make up 7% of Malawi's total exports
- Malawi's labor force is 7.58 million (2021 est.)
- Agriculture employs 80% of Malawi's labor force
- Budget revenue is $1.36 billion and expenditures $2.06 billion in Malawi 2021 est.
- Public debt is 76.9% of GDP in Malawi 2021 est.
- Remittances inflows are 1.5% of GDP in Malawi 2022
- Ease of doing business rank is 109th out of 190 in Malawi 2020
- Gini index for Malawi is 38.1 (2017) measuring income inequality
- Poverty headcount ratio at $2.15 a day is 70.2% in Malawi 2018
Economy Interpretation
Malawi's economy, a small and hardworking ship, is sailing into the strong headwinds of inflation and debt with a dangerously large hole in its hull from imports, while the vast majority of its crew remains anchored in subsistence agriculture, hoping its prized tobacco cargo will keep them afloat.
Education
- Net enrollment rate in primary education is 90.5% in Malawi 2022
- Primary completion rate (gross) is 116.3% in Malawi 2022
- Pupil-teacher ratio in primary education is 59.5 students per teacher in Malawi 2022
- Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) is 4.5% in Malawi 2022
- School enrollment, secondary (% gross) is 41.3% in Malawi 2022
- School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) is 1.5% in Malawi 2022
- Youth literacy rate (15-24 years) is 93% for males and 88% for females in Malawi 2018
- Adult literacy rate is 81% overall in Malawi 2022
- Number of primary schools in Malawi is 5,700 public schools in 2022
- Secondary schools number is 1,800 in Malawi 2022
- Teachers in primary education: 72,000 in Malawi 2022
- Female primary teachers are 45% of total in Malawi 2022
- Out-of-school children primary age: 250,000 in Malawi 2022
- Education index from HDI is 0.475 in Malawi 2021
- Mean years of schooling is 5.7 years in Malawi 2021
- Expected years of schooling is 11.9 years in Malawi 2021
- PISA scores not available but regional low performance noted for Malawi
- Vocational training enrollment is 5% of secondary students in Malawi 2022
- University of Malawi has 12,000 students enrolled in 2023
- Literacy rate for females aged 15+ is 70.1% in Malawi 2015-16
- Gender parity index in primary enrollment is 1.02 in Malawi 2022
- Repeaters in primary education (% of total enrollment) is 14.5% in Malawi 2022
- Survival rate to last grade of primary is 62.3% in Malawi 2022
- Student-teacher ratio secondary is 38.2 in Malawi 2022
- Private primary enrollment share is 8.5% in Malawi 2022
- Total tertiary enrollment is 35,000 students in Malawi 2022
Education Interpretation
While Malawi has commendably packed its primary classrooms to bursting and even conjured a mathematically mysterious 116% completion rate, the stark reality is that far too many of those students vanish before graduation, leaving a system straining heroically under the weight of its own ambitious enrollment.
Health
- Malawi's HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate is 8.9% (2022 est.)
- 360,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Malawi (2022 est.)
- 13,800 HIV/AIDS deaths in Malawi annually (2022 est.)
- Major infectious diseases include bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, typhoid, dengue fever, malaria, and HIV in Malawi
- Infant mortality rate is 42.28 deaths/1,000 live births in Malawi 2023
- Maternal mortality ratio is 375 deaths/100,000 live births in Malawi 2020
- Children under 5 mortality rate is 60.3 deaths/1,000 live births in Malawi 2022
- Obesity rate among adults is 9.1% in Malawi 2022
- Diabetes prevalence among adults is 5.3% in Malawi 2022
- Current health expenditure (% of GDP) is 5.61% in Malawi 2021
- Physicians (per 1,000 people) is 0.08 in Malawi 2020
- Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) is 1.5 in Malawi 2020
- Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) is 17 in Malawi 2022
- Malaria incidence (per 1,000 population at risk) is 263 in Malawi 2022
- Immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) is 84% in Malawi 2022
- Antenatal care coverage (at least four visits %) is 52% in Malawi 2022
- Contraceptive prevalence (any method, %) among married women 15-49 is 59.1% in Malawi 2016
- Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19) is 142.4 in Malawi 2021
- Suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population) is 8.1 in Malawi 2019
- Non-communicable diseases account for 32% of all deaths in Malawi 2019
- Access to improved drinking water sources is 88% in Malawi 2022
- Sanitation facilities improved access is 49% in Malawi 2022
- Prevalence of undernourishment is 18.4% of population in Malawi 2022
- Stunting (height for age under 5) is 37.1% in Malawi 2022
- Wasting (weight for height under 5) is 4.2% in Malawi 2022
- Underweight (weight for age under 5) is 11.3% in Malawi 2022
Health Interpretation
While Malawi's health landscape is a paradox of impressive progress against a stubborn tide of preventable suffering, the statistics whisper a sobering truth: the nation's resilience is being relentlessly tested by the heavy, intertwined burdens of infectious disease, maternal and child mortality, and undernutrition, all straining against a threadbare healthcare system.
Infrastructure and Environment
- Malawi's total land area is 118,484 sq km
- Arable land constitutes 34.5% of Malawi's land area in 2022
- Forest area is 32.5% of land area in Malawi 2022
- Renewable energy consumption (% of total final energy consumption) is 85.2% in Malawi 2022
- Access to electricity (% of population) is 13.2% in Malawi 2022
- Roadways total length is 39,360 km in Malawi 2021
- Paved roadways are 5,798 km in Malawi 2021
- Railways total length is 1,000 km in Malawi 2021 est.
- Waterways length is 700 km on Lake Nyasa (Shire River) in Malawi
- Airports with paved runways: 7 in Malawi 2023
- Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) is 51.2 in Malawi 2022
- Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) is 0.9 in Malawi 2022
- Internet users (% of population) is 17.1% in Malawi 2023
- CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) is 0.1 in Malawi 2022
- Annual freshwater withdrawals (% of internal resources) is 1.1% in Malawi 2017
- Threatened fish species number 20 in Malawi
- Lake Malawi covers 24,600 sq km shared with Tanzania and Mozambique
- Annual deforestation rate is 0.8% in Malawi 2010-2020
- Protected areas cover 11.4% of land and sea in Malawi 2022
- Improved water source rural access is 84% in Malawi 2022
- Improved sanitation rural access is 37% in Malawi 2022
- Household air pollution from solid fuels affects 96% of population in Malawi 2022
- Ports and terminals: 1 at Nsanje on Shire River in Malawi
- Telecommunications systems include 4G LTE mobile services in urban areas of Malawi
- Energy production: 1.797 billion kWh electricity in Malawi 2021 est.
- Energy consumption: 2.193 billion kWh in Malawi 2021 est.
- Annual rainfall average is 900-1,500 mm in Malawi
- Endangered mammals: 13 species in Malawi
- Bird species threatened: 4 in Malawi
Infrastructure and Environment Interpretation
While Malawi's heart beats with lush forests and renewable energy, its pulse stutters with scant electricity and paved roads, leaving its people to navigate a landscape of rich potential on foot, by phone, and over largely untapped waters.
Sources & References
- Reference 1CIAcia.govVisit source
- Reference 2DATAdata.worldbank.orgVisit source
- Reference 3UNun.orgVisit source
- Reference 4MALAWImalawi.unfpa.orgVisit source
- Reference 5ARCHIVEarchive.doingbusiness.orgVisit source
- Reference 6DATAdata.unicef.orgVisit source
- Reference 7WHOwho.intVisit source
- Reference 8UISuis.unesco.orgVisit source
- Reference 9GLOBALPARTNERSHIPglobalpartnership.orgVisit source
- Reference 10HDRhdr.undp.orgVisit source
- Reference 11OECDoecd.orgVisit source
- Reference 12UNIMAunima.ac.mwVisit source
- Reference 13DHSPROGRAMdhsprogram.comVisit source
- Reference 14PROTECTEDPLANETprotectedplanet.netVisit source