Malawi vs Zambia: The global population hockey stick
Malawi
21.10 million people
in 2023
Zambia
20.72 million people
in 2023
Malawi rank
63rd
Zambia rank
64th
The global population hockey stick over time
- Malawi
- Zambia
How they compare
Malawi currently reports 21.10 million people against 20.72 million people in Zambia, a difference of 380,500 people.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 241 shared years of data; in 1000 it was Malawi ahead.
Malawi ranks 63rd and Zambia ranks 64th of 239 countries.
Malawi has averaged higher in every one of the 40 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Zambia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000s | 178,500 people | 151,500 people | 27,000 people | Malawi |
| 1100s | 214,200 people | 181,800 people | 32,400 people | Malawi |
| 1200s | 249,900 people | 212,100 people | 37,800 people | Malawi |
| 1300s | 285,600 people | 242,400 people | 43,200 people | Malawi |
| 1400s | 321,300 people | 272,700 people | 48,600 people | Malawi |
| 1500s | 357,000 people | 303,000 people | 54,000 people | Malawi |
| 1600s | 387,345 people | 328,755 people | 58,590 people | Malawi |
| 1700s | 417,690 people | 354,510 people | 63,180 people | Malawi |
| 1710s | 435,095 people | 340,320 people | 94,775 people | Malawi |
| 1720s | 443,408 people | 346,823 people | 96,585 people | Malawi |
| 1730s | 452,257 people | 353,744 people | 98,513 people | Malawi |
| 1740s | 461,701 people | 361,130 people | 100,571 people | Malawi |
| 1750s | 471,811 people | 369,038 people | 102,773 people | Malawi |
| 1760s | 482,671 people | 377,533 people | 105,138 people | Malawi |
| 1770s | 494,380 people | 386,691 people | 107,689 people | Malawi |
| 1780s | 507,057 people | 396,607 people | 110,450 people | Malawi |
| 1790s | 520,844 people | 407,390 people | 113,454 people | Malawi |
| 1800s | 813,236 people | 800,457 people | 12,779 people | Malawi |
| 1810s | 1.01 million people | 931,599 people | 76,684 people | Malawi |
| 1820s | 1.25 million people | 1.08 million people | 165,560 people | Malawi |
| 1830s | 1.55 million people | 1.26 million people | 287,232 people | Malawi |
| 1840s | 1.92 million people | 1.47 million people | 450,942 people | Malawi |
| 1850s | 2.15 million people | 1.59 million people | 555,302 people | Malawi |
| 1860s | 2.14 million people | 1.60 million people | 545,754 people | Malawi |
| 1870s | 2.13 million people | 1.60 million people | 522,838 people | Malawi |
| 1880s | 2.13 million people | 1.62 million people | 504,968 people | Malawi |
| 1890s | 2.11 million people | 1.63 million people | 481,278 people | Malawi |
| 1900s | 2.00 million people | 1.57 million people | 431,996 people | Malawi |
| 1910s | 1.89 million people | 1.48 million people | 405,551 people | Malawi |
| 1920s | 1.98 million people | 1.55 million people | 429,521 people | Malawi |
| 1930s | 2.28 million people | 1.79 million people | 495,524 people | Malawi |
| 1940s | 2.67 million people | 2.09 million people | 579,887 people | Malawi |
| 1950s | 3.23 million people | 2.67 million people | 553,737 people | Malawi |
| 1960s | 4.06 million people | 3.65 million people | 406,516 people | Malawi |
| 1970s | 5.26 million people | 4.94 million people | 317,725 people | Malawi |
| 1980s | 7.57 million people | 6.69 million people | 882,932 people | Malawi |
| 1990s | 10.29 million people | 8.71 million people | 1.57 million people | Malawi |
| 2000s | 12.75 million people | 11.62 million people | 1.12 million people | Malawi |
| 2010s | 16.88 million people | 16.19 million people | 696,770 people | Malawi |
| 2020s | 20.31 million people | 19.88 million people | 428,625 people | Malawi |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher the global population hockey stick, Malawi or Zambia?
- Malawi, at 21.10 million people against 20.72 million people in Zambia as of 2023.
- What is the difference in the global population hockey stick between Malawi and Zambia?
- 380,500 people, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Zambia?
- 241 years are reported by both, from 1000 to 2023.
- How do Malawi and Zambia rank globally for the global population hockey stick?
- Malawi ranks 63rd and Zambia ranks 64th of 239 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) β with major processing by Our World in Data, published as The global population hockey stick. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.