Rural population growth in Malawi
Malawi: Rural population growth was 2.2% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Rural population growth in Malawi, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population growth in Malawi is 2.2%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 2.7% on the previous year and down 19.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population growth in Malawi peaked at 5.1% in 1988 and was at its lowest, -1.6%, in 1994.
That places Malawi 16th out of 207 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.3% | 2.1% | 2.3% | 9 |
| 1970s | 2.5% | 2.1% | 3.4% | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.9% | 3.4% | 5.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.5% | -1.6% | 3.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.5% | 2.3% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.7% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.3% | 2.2% | 2.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Rural population 82.4% (2025)
- Rural population 18.31 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 30.0% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.04 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 1,857 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 3.80 million metric tons (2023)
- Fertilizer consumption 87.36 kilograms per hectare of arable land (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population growth in Malawi?
- Rural population growth in Malawi was 2.2% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population growth recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 5.1% in 1988.
- What is the lowest rural population growth recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was -1.6% in 1994.
- How does Malawi rank for rural population growth?
- Malawi ranks 16th out of 207 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population growth rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 19.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual rural population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear rural population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population.