Malawi Population
Malawi had an estimated population of 22,216,120 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 60th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.27% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.56% a year.
Malawi at a glance
How Malawi's population is changing
Malawi's population is growing fast: +2.56% a year, which works out to about +568,034 people per year, or +1,555 a day. Births (31.1 per 1,000) and deaths (5.3 per 1,000) alone would give +2.59% a year; net migration removes about 5,628 people a year (−0.03%). Roughly one in every 370 people on Earth lives in Malawi.
Population of Malawi since 1960
In 1960, Malawi had 3,628,134 people. By 2025 that was 22,216,120 — 6.1× larger. The fastest growth came between 1980 and 1990, when the population rose by 52%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 3,628,134 | — |
| 1970 | 4,633,944 | +27.7% |
| 1980 | 6,265,529 | +35.2% |
| 1990 | 9,545,852 | +52.4% |
| 2000 | 11,315,942 | +18.5% |
| 2010 | 14,826,463 | +31.0% |
| 2020 | 19,533,888 | +31.8% |
| 2025 | 22,216,120 | +13.7% |
Malawi from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Malawi at about 737,000 people in 1800; the UN estimates 22,216,118 in 2025 (30× 1800) and projects 59,141,254 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 166% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 737,000 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 2,126,398 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 2,067,047 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 2,950,299 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 11,315,947 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 22,216,118 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 37,361,675 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 50,708,858 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 59,141,254 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Malawi
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 22,216,120. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lilongwe | 961,399 | UN urban centre | 4.33% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Blantyre | 909,289 | UN urban centre | 4.09% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Mzuzu | 221,840 | UN urban centre | 1.00% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Zomba | 78,271 | UN urban centre | 0.35% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | Karonga | 69,486 | GeoNames settlement | 0.31% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Mangochi | 63,227 | UN urban centre | 0.28% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Kasungu | 62,065 | UN urban centre | 0.28% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Salima | 41,492 | GeoNames settlement | 0.19% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Liwonde | 41,077 | GeoNames settlement | 0.18% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 10 | Balaka | 40,950 | GeoNames settlement | 0.18% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Malawi compares
Malawi has almost the same population as Zambia (21,913,874).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Malawi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #58 |  Mali | 25,198,821 | +13% | compare → |
| #59 |  Burkina Faso | 24,074,580 | +8% | compare → |
| #61 |  Zambia | 21,913,874 | −1% | compare → |
| #62 |  Sri Lanka | 21,756,000 | −2% | compare → |
Compare Malawi with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya.
Explore around Malawi
Land neighbours (3)
Tanzania 70,545,865 · 3.2× the population · compare
Mozambique 35,631,653 · 1.6× the population · compare- Zambia 21,913,874 · about the same population · compare
Malawi's 3 neighbours together hold 128,091,392 people — 5.8× Malawi's population. The most populous is Tanzania (70,545,865).
In its region
Malawi is the 18th most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 1.7% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings featuring Malawi
Cities
Lilongwe, Blantyre, Mzuzu, Zomba, Karonga, Mangochi, Kasungu, Salima — all Malawi's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Malawi when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.