Statizoid

Population in Malawi

Malawi: Population was 21.10 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
21.10 million people
Change on year
up 2.6%
World rank
62nd
of 238 countries
All-time high
21.10 million people
in 2023
All-time low
178,500 people
in 1000
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Malawi, 1000–2023

05.0M10.0M15.0M20.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 21.10 million people for population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and up 30.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Malawi peaked at 21.10 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 178,500 people, in 1000.

Malawi ranks 62nd of 238 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 178,500 people 178,500 people 178,500 people 1
1100s 214,200 people 214,200 people 214,200 people 1
1200s 249,900 people 249,900 people 249,900 people 1
1300s 285,600 people 285,600 people 285,600 people 1
1400s 321,300 people 321,300 people 321,300 people 1
1500s 357,000 people 357,000 people 357,000 people 1
1600s 387,345 people 387,345 people 387,345 people 1
1700s 417,690 people 417,690 people 417,690 people 1
1710s 435,095 people 435,095 people 435,095 people 1
1720s 443,408 people 443,408 people 443,408 people 1
1730s 452,257 people 452,257 people 452,257 people 1
1740s 461,701 people 461,701 people 461,701 people 1
1750s 471,811 people 471,811 people 471,811 people 1
1760s 482,671 people 482,671 people 482,671 people 1
1770s 494,380 people 494,380 people 494,380 people 1
1780s 507,057 people 507,057 people 507,057 people 1
1790s 520,844 people 520,844 people 520,844 people 1
1800s 813,236 people 737,000 people 893,958 people 10
1810s 1.01 million people 913,763 people 1.11 million people 10
1820s 1.25 million people 1.13 million people 1.37 million people 10
1830s 1.55 million people 1.40 million people 1.70 million people 10
1840s 1.92 million people 1.74 million people 2.10 million people 10
1850s 2.15 million people 2.13 million people 2.15 million people 10
1860s 2.14 million people 2.14 million people 2.15 million people 10
1870s 2.13 million people 2.11 million people 2.14 million people 10
1880s 2.13 million people 2.11 million people 2.14 million people 10
1890s 2.11 million people 2.08 million people 2.14 million people 10
1900s 2.00 million people 1.93 million people 2.07 million people 10
1910s 1.89 million people 1.86 million people 1.92 million people 10
1920s 1.98 million people 1.87 million people 2.11 million people 10
1930s 2.28 million people 2.14 million people 2.43 million people 10
1940s 2.67 million people 2.47 million people 2.89 million people 10
1950s 3.23 million people 2.95 million people 3.54 million people 10
1960s 4.06 million people 3.63 million people 4.52 million people 10
1970s 5.26 million people 4.63 million people 6.03 million people 10
1980s 7.57 million people 6.27 million people 9.18 million people 10
1990s 10.29 million people 9.55 million people 11.05 million people 10
2000s 12.75 million people 11.32 million people 14.40 million people 10
2010s 16.88 million people 14.83 million people 19.03 million people 10
2020s 20.31 million people 19.53 million people 21.10 million people 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 59 Taiwan 23.32 million people compare
  2. 60 Burkina Faso 23.03 million people compare
  3. 61 Sri Lanka 22.97 million people compare
  4. 63 Zambia 20.72 million people compare
  5. 64 Kazakhstan 20.33 million people compare
  6. 65 Chile 19.66 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Malawi?
Population in Malawi was 21.10 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 21.10 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 178,500 people in 1000.
How does Malawi rank for population?
Malawi ranks 62nd out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is up 30.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.