Demographics & population — Malawi
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Malawi: 21,916,629
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Population overview
- Population
21,916,629
- Population - note
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
- Population Growth Rate
2.74%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
LILONGWE (capital) 772,000
Age & family
- Age Structure
- Median Age
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
40
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
12.54
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
5.26
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
46.1%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
46.1%
- Mean Age for Mother's First Birth (age 25-49)
18.9
- Mother's mean age at first birth
18.9
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European
- Nationality Noun
Malawian(s)
Education
- Literacy - total population
62.7%
- Literacy - male
76.1%
- Literacy - female
49.8%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
5.4%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
460
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
.02
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
1.3
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
8.4%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
very high
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
4.3%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
13.8%