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Life expectancy by sex in Malawi

Malawi: Life expectancy by sex was 70.56 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
70.56 years
Change on year
up 1.7%
World rank
188th
of 236 countries
All-time high
70.56 years
in 2023
All-time low
34.41 years
in 1950
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Life expectancy by sex in Malawi, 1950–2023

020406080195019862023

Source: Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2023, life expectancy by sex in Malawi stood at 70.56 years. That is the highest value across all 74 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.7% on the previous year and up 11.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy by sex in Malawi peaked at 70.56 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 34.41 years, in 1950.

Malawi ranks 188th of 236 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.

Life expectancy by sex in Malawi, year by year

Year years Change
1950 34.41 years —
1951 34.56 years +0.4%
1952 34.74 years +0.5%
1953 34.89 years +0.5%
1954 35.1 years +0.6%
1955 35.28 years +0.5%
1956 35.52 years +0.7%
1957 35.78 years +0.7%
1958 36.06 years +0.8%
1959 36.31 years +0.7%
1960 36.58 years +0.7%
1961 36.78 years +0.5%
1962 36.99 years +0.6%
1963 37.15 years +0.4%
1964 37.22 years +0.2%
1965 37.29 years +0.2%
1966 37.38 years +0.3%
1967 37.53 years +0.4%
1968 37.62 years +0.2%
1969 37.82 years +0.5%
1970 38.15 years +0.9%
1971 38.46 years +0.8%
1972 39.01 years +1.4%
1973 39.8 years +2.0%
1974 40.64 years +2.1%
1975 41.65 years +2.5%
1976 42.72 years +2.6%
1977 43.8 years +2.5%
1978 44.97 years +2.7%
1979 45.69 years +1.6%
1980 46.38 years +1.5%
1981 46.76 years +0.8%
1982 46.81 years +0.1%
1983 46.93 years +0.2%
1984 46.76 years -0.4%
1985 46.48 years -0.6%
1986 46.15 years -0.7%
1987 45.67 years -1.0%
1988 45.21 years -1.0%
1989 45.1 years -0.2%
1990 45.07 years -0.1%
1991 44.98 years -0.2%
1992 44.99 years +0.0%
1993 44.92 years -0.1%
1994 45.04 years +0.3%
1995 45 years -0.1%
1996 45.28 years +0.6%
1997 45.59 years +0.7%
1998 45.8 years +0.5%
1999 46.62 years +1.8%
2000 47.76 years +2.5%
2001 48.74 years +2.1%
2002 49.75 years +2.1%
2003 51.32 years +3.1%
2004 52.78 years +2.9%
2005 54.27 years +2.8%
2006 55.43 years +2.1%
2007 56.34 years +1.6%
2008 57.43 years +1.9%
2009 58.57 years +2.0%
2010 59.9 years +2.3%
2011 61.18 years +2.1%
2012 62.37 years +1.9%
2013 63.56 years +1.9%
2014 64.5 years +1.5%
2015 65.24 years +1.2%
2016 66.2 years +1.5%
2017 67.06 years +1.3%
2018 67.92 years +1.3%
2019 68.43 years +0.8%
2020 68.81 years +0.6%
2021 68.25 years -0.8%
2022 69.38 years +1.7%
2023 70.56 years +1.7%

Malawi compared with similar countries

  • Malawi's 70.56 years is above the median for low income countries, which is 66.36 years, 1.1× the median. (25 countries reporting)
  • Malawi's 70.56 years is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 66.75 years, 1.1× the median. (48 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 35.26 years 34.41 years 36.31 years 10
1960s 37.24 years 36.58 years 37.82 years 10
1970s 41.49 years 38.15 years 45.69 years 10
1980s 46.23 years 45.1 years 46.93 years 10
1990s 45.33 years 44.92 years 46.62 years 10
2000s 53.24 years 47.76 years 58.57 years 10
2010s 64.64 years 59.9 years 68.43 years 10
2020s 69.25 years 68.25 years 70.56 years 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 185 Ethiopia 70.73 years compare
  2. 186 Tuvalu 70.7 years compare
  3. 187 Eritrea 70.66 years compare
  4. 189 Mauritania 70.48 years compare
  5. 190 Libya 70.42 years compare
  6. 191 Myanmar 70.16 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More population data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy by sex in Malawi?
Life expectancy by sex in Malawi was 70.56 years in 2023, according to Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest life expectancy by sex recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 70.56 years in 2023.
What is the lowest life expectancy by sex recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 34.41 years in 1950.
How does Malawi rank for life expectancy by sex?
Malawi ranks 188th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy by sex rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy by sex. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Life expectancy by sex in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 25 September 2026, from https://population.statizoid.com/stat/life-expectation-at-birth-by-sex/malawi/

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About this data

Indicator
Life expectancy by sex
Unit
years
Source
Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 18,722 data points, 1751–2023
Last refreshed

Period life expectancy at birth among females, in a given year.