Malawi vs Papua New Guinea: Share of population living in cities
Malawi
10.8%
in 2020
Papua New Guinea
11.0%
in 2020
Malawi rank
188th
Papua New Guinea rank
187th
Share of population living in cities over time
- Malawi
- Papua New Guinea
How they compare
Papua New Guinea currently reports 11.0% against 10.8% in Malawi, a difference of 0.2%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 15 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Papua New Guinea ahead.
Malawi ranks 188th and Papua New Guinea ranks 187th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Malawi averaged higher in 1 and Papua New Guinea in 5.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Papua New Guinea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1960s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | — |
| 1970s | 0.0% | 3.3% | 3.3% | Papua New Guinea |
| 1980s | 2.4% | 5.2% | 2.9% | Papua New Guinea |
| 1990s | 5.3% | 6.9% | 1.6% | Papua New Guinea |
| 2000s | 8.4% | 9.4% | 1.0% | Papua New Guinea |
| 2010s | 10.2% | 9.6% | 0.6% | Malawi |
| 2020s | 10.8% | 11.0% | 0.1% | Papua New Guinea |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of population living in cities, Malawi or Papua New Guinea?
- Papua New Guinea, at 11.0% against 10.8% in Malawi as of 2020.
- What is the difference in share of population living in cities between Malawi and Papua New Guinea?
- 0.2%, with Papua New Guinea ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Papua New Guinea?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do Malawi and Papua New Guinea rank globally for share of population living in cities?
- Malawi ranks 188th and Papua New Guinea ranks 187th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Share of population living in cities. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated share of the population living in cities. Cities are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.