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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, citizenship, 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
2023-09-03
CentralRegion2,143,7163,110,9864,066,3405,497,2527,523,3408,533,879
DedzaDistrict298,190411,787486,682625,828830,512928,094
DowaDistrict247,603322,432411,387559,849772,569879,386
KasunguDistrict194,436323,453480,659623,592842,953950,234
LilongweDistrict605,399753,309905,8891,232,9721,637,5831,830,619
Lilongwe CityCity98,718223,318440,471669,532989,3181,162,544
MchinjiDistrict158,833249,843324,941454,584602,305672,578
NkhotakotaDistrict94,370158,044229,460299,240393,077437,163
NtcheuDistrict226,454358,767370,757471,353659,608755,748
NtchisiDistrict87,437120,860167,880222,374317,069366,491
SalimaDistrict132,276189,173248,214337,928478,346551,022
NorthernRegion648,853911,7871,233,5601,679,4912,289,7802,532,270
ChitipaDistrict72,31696,794126,799176,835234,927256,197
KarongaDistrict106,923148,014194,572264,112365,028405,552
LikomaDistrict7,9008,1928,07410,71414,52715,995
MzimbaDistrict285,253389,479610,994718,402940,1841,017,701
Mzuzu CityCity16,10844,21786,980127,539221,272273,018
Nkhata BayDistrict97,900130,189164,761215,429284,681309,673
RumphiDistrict62,45094,902128,360166,460229,161254,134
SouthernRegion2,754,8913,965,7344,633,9685,852,7557,750,6298,743,362
BalakaDistrict146,587213,416253,098316,574438,379504,349
BlantyreDistrict189,051256,405307,344339,406451,220509,289
Blantyre CityCity219,011333,120502,053648,852800,264871,776
ChikwawaDistrict194,425316,733356,682437,892564,684628,282
ChiradzuluDistrict176,184210,912236,050287,604356,875389,928
MachingaDistrict195,249301,849369,614494,835735,438874,337
MangochiDistrict302,341496,578610,239796,0361,148,6111,346,740
MulanjeDistrict307,804419,928428,322523,949684,107765,623
MwanzaDistrict...60,30063,20092,237130,949152,433
NenoDistrict...61,20074,800108,339138,291153,132
NsanjeDistrict108,758204,374194,924241,107299,168326,874
PhalombeDistrict169,742218,134231,990315,185429,450490,345
ThyoloDistrict322,000431,157458,976590,472721,456782,442
ZombaDistrict328,100398,365480,746578,766746,724831,015
Zomba CityCity24,23443,25065,91581,501105,013116,797
MalawiRepublic5,547,4607,988,5079,933,86813,029,49817,563,74919,809,511

Source: National Statistical Office of Malawi.

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


Further information about the population structure:

Gender (P 2023)
Males9,599,265
Females10,210,246
Age Groups (P 2023)
0-14 years8,134,458
15-64 years10,978,281
65+ years696,772
Age Distribution (P 2023)
0-9 years5,660,190
10-19 years4,712,005
20-29 years3,523,035
30-39 years2,392,233
40-49 years1,561,929
50-59 years951,939
60-69 years549,332
70-79 years305,407
80+ years153,441
Urbanization (C 2018)
Rural14,747,257
Urban2,816,492
Citizenship (C 2018)
Malawi17,506,538
Foreign Citizenship57,211
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