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Malawi: Administrative Division

Contents: Regions and Districts

The population of the regions, districts and cities of Malawi according to census results and latest official projections.

The Details icon links to further information about a selected division including its population structure (gender, age groups, age distribution, urbanization, nationality, country of birth, religion, literacy (a5+), tribe).

NameStatusPopulation
Census
1977-09-20		Population
Census
1987-09-01		Population
Census
1998-09-01		Population
Census
2008-06-08		Population
Census
2018-09-03		Population
Projection
2020-09-03
CentralRegion2,143,7163,110,9864,066,3405,497,2527,523,3407,922,416
DedzaDistrict298,190411,787486,682625,828830,512869,712
DowaDistrict247,603322,432411,387559,849772,569814,635
KasunguDistrict194,436323,453480,659623,592842,953885,624
LilongweDistrict605,399753,309905,8891,232,9721,637,5831,715,103
Lilongwe CityCity98,718223,318440,471669,532989,3181,055,737
MchinjiDistrict158,833249,843324,941454,584602,305630,560
NkhotakotaDistrict94,370158,044229,460299,240393,077410,891
NtcheuDistrict226,454358,767370,757471,353659,608697,236
NtchisiDistrict87,437120,860167,880222,374317,069336,263
SalimaDistrict132,276189,173248,214337,928478,346506,655
NorthernRegion648,853911,7871,233,5601,679,4912,289,7802,383,045
ChitipaDistrict72,31696,794126,799176,835234,927243,252
KarongaDistrict106,923148,014194,572264,112365,028380,608
LikomaDistrict7,9008,1928,07410,71414,52715,096
MzimbaDistrict285,253389,479610,994718,402940,184970,816
Mzuzu CityCity16,10844,21786,980127,539221,272240,005
Nkhata BayDistrict97,900130,189164,761215,429284,681294,491
RumphiDistrict62,45094,902128,360166,460229,161238,777
SouthernRegion2,754,8913,965,7344,633,9685,852,7557,750,6298,144,367
BalakaDistrict146,587213,416253,098316,574438,379464,103
BlantyreDistrict189,051256,405307,344339,406451,220474,284
Blantyre CityCity219,011333,120502,053648,852800,264830,073
ChikwawaDistrict194,425316,733356,682437,892564,684590,368
ChiradzuluDistrict176,184210,912236,050287,604356,875370,579
MachingaDistrict195,249301,849369,614494,835735,438788,256
MangochiDistrict302,341496,578610,239796,0361,148,6111,224,716
MulanjeDistrict307,804419,928428,322523,949684,107716,793
MwanzaDistrict...60,30063,20092,237130,949139,244
NenoDistrict...61,20074,800108,339138,291144,322
NsanjeDistrict108,758204,374194,924241,107299,168310,655
PhalombeDistrict169,742218,134231,990315,185429,450453,359
ThyoloDistrict322,000431,157458,976590,472721,456747,086
ZombaDistrict328,100398,365480,746578,766746,724780,755
Zomba CityCity24,23443,25065,91581,501105,013109,774
MalawiRepublic5,547,4607,988,5079,933,86813,029,49817,563,74918,449,828

Source: National Statistical Office of Malawi (web).

Explanation: Population figures until 1998 are de facto, later figures are de jure.

Further information about the population structure:

Gender (P 2020)
Males8,947,043
Females9,502,785
Age Groups (P 2020)
0-14 years7,790,749
15-64 years10,011,361
65+ years647,718
Age Distribution (P 2020)
0-9 years5,437,697
10-19 years4,433,804
20-29 years3,232,834
30-39 years2,175,273
40-49 years1,404,568
50-59 years835,920
60-69 years500,222
70-79 years285,908
80+ years143,602
Urbanization (C 2018)
Rural14,747,257
Urban2,816,492
Nationality (C 2018)
Malawi17,506,538
Other Nationality57,211
Country of Birth (C 2018)
Malawi17,419,753
Other Country143,996
Religion (C 2018)
Christian13,581,623
Muslim2,426,754
Traditional186,284
Other religion992,304
No religion376,784
Literacy (A5+) (C 2018)
yes10,301,467
no4,709,876
Tribe (C 2018)
Chewa6,020,944
Tumbuka1,614,577
Lomwe3,302,634
Yao2,321,763
Ngoni1,819,347
Sena670,908
Mang'anja559,885
Other Tribe1,196,480