This article is about the demographic features of the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeas ...

, including

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

derives its name from the

Maravi Maravi was a kingdom which straddled the current borders of Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia, in the 16th century. The present-day name " Maláŵi" is said to derive from the Chewa word "malaŵí", which means "flames". History At its greatest ex ...

, a

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

people who came from the southern Congo about 600 years ago. On reaching the area north of

Lake Malawi Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It is the fifth largest fr ...

, 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

Nyanja Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambique and Zambia. The noun class prefix ''chi-'' is used for l ...

s, 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 Nkhotakota (Un-kho-tah-kho-tuh) (formerly Kota Kota) (name derived from the Chichewa for "Corner Corner") is a town and one of the districts in the Central Region of Malawi. It is on the shore of Lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa) and is one of ...

to the

Zambezi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

in the south, and from

in the east, to the Luangwa River in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

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. The Chewas constitute 90% of the population of the central region; the

tribe predominates in the south and the Tumbuka in the north. In addition, significant numbers of the

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

s live in the north; Ngonis—an offshoot of the

Zulus Zulu people (; zu, amaZulu) are a Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Na ...

who came from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

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 Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

and Zomba north to Lake Malawi and east to the border with

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Bantus of other tribes came from

as refugees.

Population

According to the total population was in , 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.Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision
Total and Percent Distribution of Population by Single Year of Age (Census 09.03.2018) Structure of the population (DHS 2014) (Males 6 855, Females 7 125 = 13 979) :

UN population projections

Numbers are in thousands. UN medium variant projections *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 Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality. It is a project of the Global Change Data Lab, a re ...

prepared the following estimates based on statistics from the Population Department of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

Fertility and births

Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR): Fertility data as of 2016 (DHS Program):

Other demographic statistics

Demographic statistics according to the World Population Review in 2019. *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 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

Malawi single age population pyramid 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 The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

: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 ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
s

:total dependency ratio: 91 (2015 est.) :youth dependency ratio: 85.3 (2015 est.) :elderly dependency ratio: 5.7 (2015 est.) :

potential support ratio The potential support ratio (PSR) is the number of people age 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older. This ratio describes the burden placed on the working population (unemployment and children are not considered in this measure) by the no ...

: 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 Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly t ...

:'' 4.19% annual rate of change (2015-20 est.)

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

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

Chewa Chewa may refer to: *the Chewa people *the Chewa language Chewa (also known as Nyanja, ) is a Bantu language spoken in much of Southern, Southeast and East Africa, namely the countries of Malawi , where it is an official language, and Mozambiq ...

34.3% * Lomwe 18.8% * Yao 13.2% * Ngoni 10.4% * Tumbuka 9.2% * Sena 3.8% *

Mang'anja The Mang'anja are a Bantu people of central and southern Africa, particularly around Chikwawa in the Shire River valley of southern Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked co ...

3.2% *

1.8% *

1.8% * Nyakyusa 1% * Europeans 0.04% *Other 2.5%

Languages

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(official) * Chichewa (official) - 6,500,000 *

Chiyao Yao is a Bantu language in Africa with approximately two million speakers in Malawi, and half a million each in Tanzania and Mozambique. There are also some speakers in Zambia. In Malawi, the main dialect is Mangochi, mostly spoken around Lak ...

- 1,760,000 *

Chitumbuka The Tumbuka language is a Bantu language which is spoken in the Northern Region of Malawi and Zambia in the districts of Lundazi, Lumezi, and Chasefu.Chilomwe - 2,290,000 * Chingoni - 37,500 * Chimakhuwa - 200,000 * Chisena - 468,000 * Chitonga - 271,000 * Chinyika - 5,000 * Chinyiha - 10,000 * Chindali - 70,000 * Chinyakyusa - 149,000 * Chilambya - 59,500 *

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

- 26,000

Education expenditures

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

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.)

White Malawians

There has been reported a 7,400 white population. White Malawians are primarily of English and Scottish ancestry, however there are small numbers who are of Dutch, French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, Middle Eastern, Belgian, Scandinavian, or German background. White Malawians live in Lilongwe,

Dedza Dedza is the main township of Dedza District in the Central Region of Malawi. Description Dedza is located about 85 km south of Malawi's capital, Lilongwe, off the M1 road to Blantyre at a point where a trans-African highway from Johann ...

, Dowa,

Kasungu Kasungu is a town in the Kasungu District of the Central Region of Malawi. The population of Kasungu was 58,653 according to the 2018 census. Kasungu is approximately north-west of the capital of Malawi, Lilongwe, and is east of Kasungu N ...

, Mchinji,

Ntcheu Ntcheu is a town located in the Central Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Ntcheu District Ntcheu is a district in the Central Region of Malawi. It borders with the country of Mozambique. The district headquarters is Ntcheu ...

, Ntchisi, Salima,

Chitipa Chitipa is the capital of Chitipa District Chitipa District is the northernmost district in the Northern Region of Malawi. The capital is Chitipa (formerly known as Fort Hill). The district covers an area of 4,288 km.², and has a popula ...

Karonga Karonga is a township in the Karonga District in Northern Region of Malawi. Located on the western shore of Lake Nyasa, it was established as a slaving centre sometime before 1877. As of 2018 estimates, Karonga has a population of 61,609. Hi ...

, Likoma,

Mzimba Mzimba is a town in the Mzimba District of Malawi. The district is inhabited by descendants of Tumbuka and few Ngoni people. The district of Mzimba has a number of Traditional Authorities from the Ngoni people. The head of these Traditional ...

Nkhata Bay Nkhata Bay or just Nkhata is the capital of the Nkhata Bay District in Malawi. It is on the shore of Lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa), east of Mzuzu, and is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi. The population of Nkhata Bay was 14,274 accord ...

Rumphi Rumphi is the capital of the Rumphi District (Rumphi Boma) in the Northern Region of Malawi. It is a lively town with a market which serves the widespread farming community. Rumphi is noted for the kindness of the people (it is even rude to p ...

, Balaka,

Chikwawa Chikwawa is a town with a population of 6,114 according to the 2018 census located in the Southern Region, Malawi, Southern Region of Malawi on the west bank of the Shire River. It is the administrative capital of the Chikwawa District. Chikwawa l ...

Chiradzulu Chiradzulu is a town in Malawi, and the administrative capital of the Chiradzulu District. It is famous because it is where the home and church of John Chilembwe is located. It was the site of European farming settlement. Notable people *John Chi ...

, Machinga,

Mangochi Mangochi is a township in the Southern Region of Malawi. Located near the southern end of Lake Malawi, in colonial times it used to be called Fort Johnston. As of 2018 it has a population of 53,498. History Mangochi was founded by colonial adm ...

Mulanje Mulanje, formerly called Mlanje, is a town in the Southern Region of Malawi, close to the border with Mozambique, to the east. It is near the Mulanje Massif. Location The town of Mulanje lies along the M-2 highway from Thyolo to the west to t ...

Mwanza Mwanza City, also known as Rock City to the residents, is a port city and capital of Mwanza Region on the southern shore of Lake Victoria in north-western Tanzania. With an urban population of 1,182,000 in 2021, it is Tanzania's second largest c ...

Nsanje Nsanje (formerly Port Herald) is the main city in Nsanje District within the Southern Region of Malawi. The intense urbanization in the fertile Shire River valley has formed an extensive urbanized zone that runs from the city of Bangula, furt ...

Thyolo Thyolo is a town located in the Southern Region of Malawi. It is the administrative capital of Thyolo District. Traditional Authority Mphuka in Thyolo District is one of the 10 Traditional Authorities in Thyolo District in Malawi. There are a n ...

, Phalombe, Zomba, and

Mzuzu Mzuzu is the capital of Malawi's Northern Region and is the third largest city by population in Malawi. The city has 221,272 residents and 20,000 commuters ( Mzuzu University students) with about 1.7 million people in its metropolitan area. It ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of Malawi Society of Malawi

Population

UN population projections

Vital statistics

Fertility and births

Other demographic statistics

Population

Religions

Age structure

Birth rate

Death rate

Total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

Population growth rate

Median age

Mother's mean age at first birth

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Net migration rate

Dependency ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...s

Urbanization

Life expectancy at birth

Sex ratio

Ratio of medical doctors to general population

Major infectious diseases

Nationality

Ethnic groups

Languages

Education expenditures

Literacy

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24

White Malawians

See also

References

Dependency ratio The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
s