International Rankings of Malawi 2024, country comparisons

This table lists the international rankings of Malawi, in all categories that are published in the CIA World Factbook, and those that we derived from them. Additional international rankings of Malawi, can be found in the main country ranks menu.
For a definition of each entry, visit the Definitions page.

Ranked Data	Rank	Value	Year
Communications
Broadband - fixed subscriptions - subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	60	0.10	2020
Broadband - fixed subscriptions - total	174	12255	2020
Internet users - percent of population	99	24.00 %	2021
Internet users - total	99	4.800 million	2021
Telephones - fixed lines - total subscriptions	192	9456	2022
Telephones - mobile cellular - subscriptions per 100 inhabitants	88	60.00	2021
Telephones - mobile cellular - total subscriptions	83	11.940 million	2021
Economy
Budget - expenditures	147	2.129 billion US Dollars	2019
Budget - revenues	153	1.628 billion US Dollars	2019
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)	63	3.40 % of GDP	N/A
Current account balance	147	1.543 billion US Dollars	2021
Debt - external	154	2.102 billion US Dollars	2017
Exchange rates	24	749.53	N/A
Exports	165	1.538 billion US Dollars	2021
GDP (official exchange rate)	154	7.766 billion US Dollars	2019
GDP - composition by end use - exports of goods and services	124	27.90 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by end use - government consumption	75	16.30 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by end use - household consumption	22	84.30 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by end use - imports of goods and services	89	43.80 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by end use - investment in fixed capital	117	15.30 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by sector of origin - agriculture	19	28.60 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by sector of origin - industry	141	15.40 % of GDP	2017
GDP - composition by sector of origin - services	121	56.00 % of GDP	2017
Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income	55	39 %	2019
Household income or consumption by percentage share - highest 10%	27	37.50 % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population	2010
Household income or consumption by percentage share - lowest 10%	29	2.20 % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population	N/A
Imports	157	3.582 billion US Dollars	2021
Industrial production growth rate	130	1.90 %	2021
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	31	8.63 %	2020
Labor force	63	8.551 million US Dollars	2021
Population below poverty line	18	52 %	2016
Public debt	118	44.89 % of GDP	2019
Real GDP (purchasing power parity)	141	29.658 billion US Dollars	2021
Real GDP growth rate	135	2.75 %	2021
Real GDP per capita	167	1500 US Dollars	2021
Remittances	99	2	2021
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	163	594.499 million US Dollars	2020
Taxes and other revenues	167	11.72 % of GDP	N/A
Unemployment rate	105	7.02 %	2021
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) - female	113	12.20 %	N/A
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) - male	128	7.60 %	N/A
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24) - total	117	9.90 %	2021
Energy
Carbon dioxide emissions - from coal and metallurgical coke	107	203000 metric tonnes of CO2	2019
Carbon dioxide emissions - from petroleum and other liquids	165	1.339 million metric tonnes of CO2	2019
Carbon dioxide emissions - total	165	1.542 million	2019
Coal - consumption	108	47000 metric tons	2020
Coal - production	71	48000 metric tons	2020
Coal - proven reserves	73	2.000 million metric tons	2019
Electricity - consumption	155	1.117 billion kWh	2019
Electricity - installed generating capacity	144	618000 kWh	2020
Electricity - transmission/distribution losses	130	460.000 million kWh	2019
Electricity access - electrification - rural areas	78	6	2021
Electricity access - electrification - total population	79	14	2021
Electricity access - electrification - urban areas	60	54	2021
Electricity access - population without electricity	11	17.000 million	2020
Electricity generation sources - biomass and waste	33	3.20 %	2020
Electricity generation sources - fossil fuels	146	11.80 %	2020
Electricity generation sources - hydroelectricity	17	81.90 %	2020
Electricity generation sources - solar	39	3.20 %	2020
Energy consumption per capita	186	1.809 million Btu/person	2019
Petroleum - refined petroleum consumption	159	9400 bbl/day	2019
Refined petroleum products - imports	174	4769 bbl/day	2015
Environment
Air pollutants - carbon dioxide emissions	150	1 megatons	2016
Air pollutants - methane emissions	86	11 megatons	2020
Air pollutants - particulate matter emissions	89	19 micrograms per cubic meter	2019
Land use - agricultural land	40	59	2018
Land use - arable land	17	38	2018
Land use - forest	88	34	2018
Land use - permanent crops	71	1	2018
Land use - permanent pasture	80	20	2018
Revenue from forest resources	10	6 % of GDP	2018
Total renewable water resources	126	17.280 billion cubic meters	2020
Total water withdrawal - agricultural	82	1.170 billion cubic meters	2020
Total water withdrawal - industrial	90	50.000 million cubic meters	2020
Total water withdrawal - municipal	100	140.000 million cubic meters	2020
Urbanization - rate of urbanization	8	4.41	N/A
Urbanization - urban population	175	18	2023
Geography
Area - land	109	94080 sq km	N/A
Area - total	102	118484 sq km	N/A
Area - water	24	24404 sq km	N/A
Elevation - lowest point	29	37 meters	N/A
Elevation - mean elevation	42	779 meters	N/A
Irrigated land	103	740 sq km	2012
Land boundaries - total	68	2857 km	N/A
Land use - agricultural land	40	59	2018
Land use - arable land	17	38	2018
Land use - forest	88	34	2018
Land use - permanent crops	71	1	2018
Land use - permanent pasture	80	20	2018
Population Density	62	226.19 Persons per sq km	N/A
Military
Military expenditures	43	1 % of GDP	2022
Population
Alcohol consumption per capita - other alcohols	14	2 liters of pure alcohol	2019
Alcohol consumption per capita - total	119	2 liters of pure alcohol	2019
Birth rate	39	27.30 births/1,000 population	2023
Child marriage - men married by age 18	12	7	2020
Child marriage - women married by age 15	19	8	N/A
Child marriage - women married by age 18	8	38	N/A
Children under the age of 5 years underweight	37	12 %	2020
Contraceptive prevalence rate	39	65.60 %	1920
Current health expenditure	63	5 % of GDP	2020
Currently married women (ages 15-49)	57	61 %	2022
Death rate	81	4.50 deaths/1,000 population	2023
Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio	143	5.00 %	N/A
Dependency ratios - potential support ratio	18	20.10 %	2021
Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio	16	84.70 %	N/A
Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio	16	79.70 %	N/A
Drinking water source - improved	30	97 % of population	N/A
Drinking water source - rural	69	9 % of population	N/A
Drinking water source - total	50	8 % of population	2020
Drinking water source - unimproved	35	3 % of population	N/A
Education expenditures	57	3 % of GDP	2020
Gross reproduction rate	34	1.64 %	2023
Infant mortality rate - female	48	28.20 deaths/1,000 live births	N/A
Infant mortality rate - male	41	37.10 deaths/1,000 live births	N/A
Infant mortality rate - total	44	32.70 deaths/1,000 live births	2023
Life expectancy at birth - female	83	76 years	N/A
Life expectancy at birth - male	95	70 years	N/A
Life expectancy at birth - total population	91	73 years	2023
Literacy - definition	2	15	N/A
Literacy - female	94	64 %	2021
Literacy - male	80	71 %	N/A
Literacy - total population	87	67 %	N/A
Maternal mortality ratio	25	381.00 deaths/100,000 live births	2020
Median age - female	151	20 years	N/A
Median age - male	147	20 years	N/A
Median age - total	139	20 years	2023
Mother's mean age at first birth	82	19	1516
Obesity - adult prevalence rate	130	5.80 %	2016
Physicians density	156	0.05 physicians/1,000 population	2020
Population	62	21.280 million	2023
Population growth rate	28	2.28 %	2023
Sanitation facility access - improved	85	60 % of population	N/A
Sanitation facility access - rural	29	64 % of population	N/A
Sanitation facility access - total	13	60 % of population	2020
Sanitation facility access - unimproved	10	40 % of population	N/A
Sex ratio - 0-14 years	17	0.99 male(s)/female	N/A
Sex ratio - 15-64 years	27	0.96 male(s)/female	N/A
Sex ratio - 65 years and over	32	0.81 male(s)/female	N/A
Sex ratio - at birth	13	1.01 male(s)/female	N/A
Sex ratio - total population	23	0.96 male(s)/female	N/A
Total fertility rate	43	3.30 children born/woman	2023
Urbanization - rate of urbanization	8	4.41	N/A
Urbanization - urban population	175	18	2023
Transportation
Airports	101	28	2024
National air transport system - annual freight traffic on registered air carriers	134	10000	2018
National air transport system - annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers	154	10545	2018
National air transport system - inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers	93	9.00	N/A
National air transport system - number of registered air carriers	26	2	2020
Railways - narrow gauge	37	767	2014
Railways - total	70	767 km	2014
Roadways - paved	68	4038 km	2022
Roadways - total	75	15451 km	2022
Waterways	73	700 km	2010

*CALCULATED FIGURES are those that we calculated from data presented by the CIA World Factbook. For example, we calculated population density by dividing the total population by the land area, the electricity consumption per capita by dividing electricity consumption by the total population, etc.

NOTE: The information regarding Malawi on this page is re-published from the 2024 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Malawi 2024 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Malawi 2024 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.