Urban population in Malawi
Malawi: Urban population was 17.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population in Malawi, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in % of total population.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 17.6% for urban population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.9% on the previous year and up 11.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in Malawi peaked at 17.6% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 1960.
Malawi ranks 212th of 215 countries on this measure, in the bottom 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 | 4.6% | 4.0% | 5.4% | 10 |
| 1970s | 7.5% | 5.7% | 8.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 10.1% | 9.1% | 11.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 13.3% | 11.6% | 14.6% | 10 |
| 2000s | 15.1% | 14.7% | 15.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.8% | 15.5% | 16.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.9% | 16.3% | 17.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More climate change data for Malawi
- Population growth 2.6% (2025)
- Population, total 22.22 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 4.4% (2025)
- Urban population 3.91 million (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 6.3% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 1.36 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 8.4% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 23.1% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 23.1% (2025)
- CPIA public sector management and institutions cluster average 3 1=low to 6=high (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population in Malawi?
- Urban population in Malawi was 17.6% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 17.6% in 2025.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 1960.
- How does Malawi rank for urban population?
- Malawi ranks 212th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 11.1%. 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 Urban population (% of total 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
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. The data are collected and smoothed by United Nations Population Division.