🇲🇼 Malawi Population 2026

As of 2026, the population of Malawi is 22,785,535, ranking #62 in the world (0.28% of the global population), based on UN World Population Prospects 2024. The population is growing at 2.53% per year. The biggest city is Lilongwe with 1,115,815 inhabitants.

Live estimate

22,799,060

Growth rate

2.53%

Density

241

people / km² (624 / mi²)

Median age

18.4

Fertility rate

3.45

births per woman

Life expectancy

67.9

years

Malawi population 1950–2100

Population of Malawi, 1950–2100 — solid: UN estimates, dashed: UN medium-variant projection.

By 2050, the population of Malawi is projected to reach 37,361,683, and 59,141,258 by 2100.

Malawi population by year

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2026	22,785,535	2.53%	241.0	18.4
2025	22,216,120	2.54%	235.0	18.1
2024	21,655,286	2.58%	229.0	17.8
2023	21,104,482	2.57%	223.2	17.6
2022	20,568,728	2.57%	217.5	17.3
2021	20,047,258	2.57%	212.0	17.1
2020	19,533,888	2.62%	206.6	16.9
2019	19,025,752	2.65%	201.2	16.7
2018	18,528,081	2.65%	196.0	16.5
2017	18,039,715	2.69%	190.8	16.3
2016	17,557,739	2.72%	185.7	16.1
2015	17,085,587	2.73%	180.7	16.0
2014	16,621,538	2.78%	175.8	15.9
2013	16,161,816	2.83%	170.9	15.8
2012	15,709,577	2.85%	166.1	15.7
2011	15,265,022	2.90%	161.4	15.7
2010	14,826,463	2.94%	156.8	15.7
2009	14,395,788	2.96%	152.3	15.7
2008	13,976,418	2.95%	147.8	15.7
2007	13,576,343	2.85%	143.6	15.7
2006	13,198,701	2.79%	139.6	15.7
2005	12,840,031	2.72%	135.8	15.7
2004	12,500,737	2.63%	132.2	15.7
2003	12,181,574	2.54%	128.8	15.7
2002	11,880,440	2.46%	125.6	15.7
2001	11,593,058	2.43%	122.6	15.7
2000	11,315,942	2.41%	119.7	15.7
1999	11,047,804	2.39%	116.8	15.7
1998	10,792,876	2.28%	114.1	15.7
1997	10,562,035	2.04%	111.7	15.7
1996	10,352,228	1.97%	109.5	15.7
1995	10,150,117	1.97%	107.3	15.7
1994	10,164,894	-2.26%	107.5	15.8
1993	10,284,024	-0.08%	108.8	15.9
1992	10,135,079	3.02%	107.2	16.0
1991	9,844,226	2.80%	104.1	16.1
1990	9,545,852	3.37%	101.0	16.2
1989	9,176,220	4.56%	97.0	16.3
1988	8,753,262	4.89%	92.6	16.4
1987	8,293,174	5.94%	87.7	16.3
1986	7,906,480	3.56%	83.6	16.2
1985	7,620,508	3.82%	80.6	16.2
1984	7,332,810	3.88%	77.6	16.2
1983	7,051,710	3.94%	74.6	16.2
1982	6,778,879	3.96%	71.7	16.2
1981	6,516,454	3.94%	68.9	16.2
1980	6,265,529	3.91%	66.3	16.2
1979	6,028,749	3.79%	63.8	16.3
1978	5,810,132	3.59%	61.4	16.3
1977	5,614,983	3.23%	59.4	16.3
1976	5,443,384	2.97%	57.6	16.3
1975	5,287,366	2.85%	55.9	16.4
1974	5,141,337	2.75%	54.4	16.5
1973	5,003,938	2.66%	52.9	16.5
1972	4,874,474	2.58%	51.6	16.7
1971	4,751,434	2.53%	50.3	16.8
1970	4,633,944	2.48%	49.0	16.9
1969	4,521,184	2.45%	47.8	17.1
1968	4,411,054	2.48%	46.7	17.2
1967	4,303,012	2.48%	45.5	17.3
1966	4,197,926	2.47%	44.4	17.4
1965	4,096,157	2.44%	43.3	17.4
1964	3,997,305	2.44%	42.3	17.3
1963	3,900,506	2.46%	41.3	17.3
1962	3,806,307	2.43%	40.3	17.2
1961	3,715,534	2.40%	39.3	17.2
1960	3,628,134	2.36%	38.4	17.1
1959	3,544,159	2.32%	37.5	17.1
1958	3,463,947	2.26%	36.6	17.0
1957	3,387,738	2.19%	35.8	16.9
1956	3,315,298	2.13%	35.1	16.9
1955	3,246,543	2.06%	34.3	16.8
1954	3,181,529	1.99%	33.6	16.7
1953	3,119,235	1.97%	33.0	16.5
1952	3,059,378	1.91%	32.4	16.4
1951	3,002,885	1.82%	31.8	16.3
1950	2,950,300	1.71%	31.2	16.1

Year	Population	Growth	Density /km²	Median age
2027	23,366,188	2.51%	247.1	18.7
2028	23,954,450	2.47%	253.3	19.0
2029	24,553,502	2.47%	259.7	19.2
2030	25,160,287	2.41%	266.1	19.5
2031	25,763,535	2.33%	272.5	19.8
2032	26,366,761	2.30%	278.9	20.1
2033	26,978,421	2.29%	285.3	20.3
2034	27,595,298	2.23%	291.9	20.6
2035	28,213,795	2.20%	298.4	20.9
2036	28,835,600	2.16%	305.0	21.1
2037	29,462,510	2.14%	311.6	21.4
2038	30,081,752	2.02%	318.2	21.6
2039	30,691,587	1.99%	324.6	21.9
2040	31,302,098	1.95%	331.1	22.1
2041	31,911,246	1.91%	337.5	22.3
2042	32,517,507	1.86%	343.9	22.6
2043	33,122,491	1.83%	350.3	22.8
2044	33,736,528	1.84%	356.8	23.1
2045	34,350,954	1.77%	363.3	23.3
2046	34,959,611	1.75%	369.7	23.6
2047	35,567,993	1.71%	376.2	23.8
2048	36,165,760	1.63%	382.5	24.1
2049	36,761,003	1.64%	388.8	24.4
2050	37,361,683	1.60%	395.1	24.6
2051	37,964,325	1.59%	401.5	24.9
2052	38,568,584	1.56%	407.9	25.1
2053	39,174,573	1.55%	414.3	25.4
2054	39,770,455	1.47%	420.6	25.7
2055	40,357,522	1.47%	426.8	26.0
2056	40,938,490	1.39%	433.0	26.2
2057	41,511,359	1.39%	439.0	26.5
2058	42,081,234	1.34%	445.1	26.8
2059	42,655,652	1.37%	451.1	27.0
2060	43,228,184	1.30%	457.2	27.3
2061	43,785,931	1.27%	463.1	27.6
2062	44,330,130	1.20%	468.8	27.8
2063	44,854,818	1.15%	474.4	28.1
2064	45,372,467	1.15%	479.9	28.4
2065	45,890,788	1.13%	485.3	28.6
2066	46,408,691	1.12%	490.8	28.9
2067	46,922,128	1.08%	496.3	29.1
2068	47,427,613	1.06%	501.6	29.4
2069	47,923,944	1.02%	506.9	29.6
2070	48,410,340	1.00%	512.0	29.9
2071	48,890,060	0.97%	517.1	30.1
2072	49,355,296	0.92%	522.0	30.4
2073	49,806,634	0.90%	526.8	30.6
2074	50,256,738	0.90%	531.5	30.9
2075	50,708,852	0.89%	536.3	31.1
2076	51,164,010	0.89%	541.1	31.3
2077	51,618,823	0.88%	545.9	31.6
2078	52,055,278	0.81%	550.5	31.8
2079	52,475,230	0.80%	555.0	32.0
2080	52,893,308	0.79%	559.4	32.2
2081	53,304,783	0.76%	563.8	32.5
2082	53,704,435	0.73%	568.0	32.7
2083	54,094,649	0.71%	572.1	32.9
2084	54,461,680	0.64%	576.0	33.1
2085	54,812,020	0.65%	579.7	33.4
2086	55,159,958	0.62%	583.4	33.6
2087	55,500,709	0.61%	587.0	33.8
2088	55,839,159	0.60%	590.6	34.0
2089	56,166,457	0.56%	594.0	34.2
2090	56,481,188	0.55%	597.4	34.4
2091	56,783,372	0.51%	600.6	34.7
2092	57,074,420	0.51%	603.6	34.9
2093	57,354,603	0.47%	606.6	35.1
2094	57,621,842	0.46%	609.4	35.3
2095	57,879,215	0.43%	612.1	35.5
2096	58,135,896	0.45%	614.9	35.7
2097	58,389,577	0.42%	617.5	35.9
2098	58,636,392	0.42%	620.1	36.1
2099	58,888,533	0.43%	622.8	36.3
2100	59,141,258	0.42%	625.5	36.5

States & provinces of Malawi by population

#	State / province	Population	Share
1	Lilongwe	2,600,000	11.4%
2	Blantyre	1,250,000	5.5%
3	Mangochi	1,148,611	5.0%
4	Mzimba	940,184	4.1%
5	Zomba	850,000	3.7%
6	Kasungu	842,953	3.7%
7	Dedza	830,512	3.6%
8	Dowa	772,569	3.4%
9	Machinga	735,438	3.2%
10	Thyolo	721,456	3.2%
11	Mulanje	684,107	3.0%
12	Ntcheu	659,608	2.9%
13	Mchinji	602,305	2.6%
14	Chikwawa	564,684	2.5%
15	Salima	478,346	2.1%
16	Balaka	438,379	1.9%
17	Phalombe	429,450	1.9%
18	Nkhotakota	393,077	1.7%
19	Chitipa	365,028	1.6%
20	Chiradzulu	356,875	1.6%
21	Ntchisi	317,069	1.4%
22	Nsanje	299,168	1.3%
23	Nkhata Bay	284,681	1.2%
24	Rumphi	229,161	1.0%
25	Neno	138,291	0.6%
26	Mwanza	130,949	0.6%
27	Likoma	14,527	0.1%

State populations: GeoNames (latest official figures, reference dates vary by country).

Biggest cities in Malawi

#	City	Region	Population
1	Lilongwe capital	Central Region	1,115,815
2	Blantyre	Southern Region	902,588
3	Mzuzu	Northern Region	249,564
4	Zomba	Southern Region	118,440
5	Karonga	Northern Region	69,486
6	Kasungu	Central Region	66,152
7	Mangochi	Southern Region	60,338
8	Salima	Central Region	41,492
9	Liwonde	Southern Region	41,077
10	Balaka	Southern Region	40,950
11	Dedza	Central Region	34,882
12	Nkhotakota	Central Region	31,974
13	Mchinji	Central Region	31,592
14	Nsanje	Southern Region	30,276
15	Mzimba	Northern Region	29,432

FAQ

What is the population of Malawi in 2026?

The population of Malawi is 22,785,535 in 2026, according to UN World Population Prospects 2024 (medium variant).

What is the biggest city in Malawi?

Lilongwe is the biggest city in Malawi with 1,115,815 inhabitants and it is also the capital.

Is the population of Malawi growing or shrinking?

The population of Malawi is growing at 2.53% per year.

Neighboring countries

Sources

Country data: United Nations World Population Prospects 2024, medium variant (CC BY 3.0 IGO). Retrieved 2026-07-07.
City and state data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Retrieved 2026-07-07.

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