Malawi Population 2024

Malawi is a landlocked country in southeastern Africa, borders Tanzania to the north and northeast, Zambia to the west and Mozambique to the east, south and southwest. Malawi population in 2024 is estimated to be 21.45 million, covers country area of 118,484 sq km (45,747 sq mi), ranks ninty-eighth country by area, the sixtieth most populous country in the world and is the third poorest nation in the world. Malawi capital is Lilongwe, other popular cities are Blantyre, Mzuzu, Zomba, Karonga, Kasungu, Mangochi, Salima, Liwonde and Balaka. Country code is MWI, Life expectancy of Malawi is 62.31 years for male and 68.93 years for female. Malawi was formerly known as Nyasaland, name Malawi comes from the Maravi, an old name for the Chewa people who inhabit the area, also nicknamed The Warm Heart of Africa. Indigenous groups of Malawi are 34.4% Chewa, 18.9% Lomwe, 13.3% Yao, 10.4% Ngoni, 9.2% Tumbuka, 3.8% Sena, 3.2% Mang'anja, 1.9% Nyanja, 1.8% Tonga, 1.0% Ngonde, 0.6% Lambya, 0.5% Sukwa and 1.1% Others.

Year	Population
1960	3,659,980
1965	4,134,464
1970	4,703,783
1975	5,384,798
1980	6,250,434
1985	7,268,271
1990	9,404,499
1995	9,844,418
2000	11,148,751
2005	12,625,950
2010	14,539,609
2015	16,745,305
2020	19,129,955

Malawi Population Growth

Malawi population in 1960 is 3,659,980, by 1970 the population is increased by 1,043,803 totaling to 4,703,783, by 1980 the population is increased to 6,250,434, and by 1990 the total increase of 9,404,499 in 30 years from 1960 to 1990 resulting to 9,404,499. From 1990 to 2000, population increased by 1,744,252 to 11,148,751, and from 2000 to 2010 the population of Malawi increase by 3,390,858 with a change of 30.41 percent and increase of population from 2010 to 2020 by 4,590,346 with a change of 31.57 percent and make up to 19,129,955. Malawi population in 2023 is estimated to be 20.78 million, population in 2022 is estimated to be 20.12 million, Population of Malawi in 2021 is estimated as 19.62 million.

Religions in Malawi

Religious Denomination	Total	Percent
Roman Catholic	3,028,435	17.2
Church of Central African Presbyterian	2,498,969	14.2
SDA/Baptist/Apostolic	1,644,829	9.4
Anglican	410,633	2.3
Pentecostal	1,332,420	7.6
Other Christians	4,666,337	26.6
Moslem	2,426,754	13.8
Buddhism	5,506	0.0
Hinduism	3,211	0.0
Traditional	186,284	1.1
Other non-Christian	983,587	5.6
No Religion	376,784	2.1

Racial Groups in Malawi

According to 2018 census, 6.0 million people (34.4 percent) were Chewa, 3.3 million people (18.9 percent) were Lomwe, 2.3 million people (13.3 percent) were Yao, 1.8 million people (10.4 percent) were Ngoni and 1.6 million people (9.2 percent) were Tumbuka.

Tribe	Malawi	Northern Region	Central Region	Southern Region
Total	17,506,022	2,283,680	7,486,480	7,735,862
Chewa	6,020,945	158,250	5,351,396	511,299
Tumbuka	1,614,955	1,311,292	236,695	66,968
Lomwe	3,302,634	30,040	229,244	3,043,350
Tonga	310,031	218,758	63,888	27,385
Yao	2,321,763	25,928	367,915	1,927,920
Sena	670,908	3,878	36,242	630,788
Nkhonde	174,430	156,893	11,108	6,429
Ngoni	1,819,347	89,173	1,091,623	638,551
Lambya	106,769	97,035	6,430	3,304
Sukwa	93,762	61,990	30,868	904
Mang'anja	559,887	3,241	30,265	526,381
Nyanja	324,272	12,754	14,711	296,807
Other	186,319	114,448	16,095	55,776

Malawi population by district

Region	District	Area (Sq km)	Population (2008)	Population (2018)	Density 2008	Density 2018
Northern Region		27,131	1,679,491	2,289,780	62	84
	Chitipa	4,334	176,835	234,927	41	54
	Karonga	3,416	264,112	365,028	77	107
	Nkhata Bay	4,182	215,429	284,681	52	68
	Rumphi	4,560	166,460	229,161	37	50
	Mzimba	10,473	718,402	940,184	69	90
	Likoma	20	10,714	14,527	536	726
	Mzuzu City	146	127,539	221,272	874	1,516
Central Region		35,641	5,497,252	7,523,340	154	211
	Kasungu	8,017	623,592	842,953	78	105
	Nkhotakota	4,338	299,240	393,077	69	91
	Ntchisi	1,709	222,374	317,069	130	186
	Dowa	3,077	559,849	772,569	182	251
	Salima	2,151	337,928	478,346	157	222
	Lilongwe	5,808	1,232,972	1,637,583	212	282
	Mchinji	3,131	454,584	602,305	145	192
	Dedza	3,754	625,828	830,512	167	221
	Ntcheu	3,251	471,353	659,608	145	203
	Lilongwe City	403	669,532	989,318	1,661	2,455
Southern Region		31,780	5,852,755	7,750,629	184	244
	Mangochi	6,729	796,036	1,148,611	118	171
	Machinga	3,582	494,835	735,438	138	205
	Zomba	2,363	578,766	746,724	245	316
	Chiradzulu	761	287,604	356,875	378	469
	Blantyre	1,785	339,406	451,220	190	253
	Mwanza	756	92,237	130,949	122	173
	Thyolo	1,666	590,472	721,456	354	433
	Mulanje	2,005	523,949	684,107	261	341
	Phalombe	1,323	315,185	429,450	238	325
	Chikwawa	4,878	437,892	564,684	90	116
	Nsanje	1,945	241,107	299,168	124	154
	Balaka	2,142	316,574	438,379	148	205
	Neno	1,561	108,339	138,291	69	89
	Zomba City	42	81,501	105,013	1,941	2,500
	Blantyre City	240	648,852	800,264	2,704	3,334
Malawi		118,484	13,029,498	17,563,749	138	186

Age Group	Population (2018)	Male	Female
0-4	2,552,406	1,265,971	1,286,435
5-9	2,632,878	1,298,962	1,333,916
10-14	2,533,303	1,247,212	1,286,091
15-19	2,035,945	1,004,780	1,031,165
20-24	1,651,576	777,577	873,999
25-29	1,229,411	582,866	646,545
30-34	1,107,226	516,505	590,721
35-39	968,998	468,188	500,810
40-44	729,600	367,171	362,429
45-49	535,868	273,749	262,119
50-54	387,812	188,400	199,412
55-59	306,921	144,046	162,875
60-64	234,918	107,820	127,098
65-69	240,551	107,911	132,640
70-74	144,788	63,805	80,983
75-79	124,718	51,598	73,120
80-84	63,675	24,130	39,545
85-89	54,754	20,751	34,003
90-94	15,130	5,245	9,885
95+	13,271	4,773	8,498