Rural population in Malawi
Malawi: Rural population was 18.31 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Malawi, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
The most recent figure for rural population in Malawi is 18.31 million, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.2% on the previous year and up 27.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Malawi peaked at 18.31 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 3.48 million, in 1960.
That places Malawi 29th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.87 million | 3.48 million | 4.28 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 4.86 million | 4.37 million | 5.49 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 6.80 million | 5.69 million | 8.14 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 8.92 million | 8.44 million | 9.44 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 10.82 million | 9.66 million | 12.18 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 14.21 million | 12.53 million | 15.96 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.33 million | 16.35 million | 18.31 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
- 26 Mozambique 22.37 million compare
- 27 Madagascar 21.97 million compare
- 28 Iran 20.91 million compare
- 30 Uzbekistan 18.15 million compare
- 31 Italy 17.86 million compare
- 32 Sri Lanka 17.31 million compare
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 growth 2.2% (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 in Malawi?
- Rural population in Malawi was 18.31 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 18.31 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.48 million in 1960.
- How does Malawi rank for rural population?
- Malawi ranks 29th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 27.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.