Malawi Demographics Profile 2008

Population

13,931,831
note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2008 est.)

Age structure

0-14 years: 46% (male 3,208,112/female 3,194,600)
15-64 years: 51.4% (male 3,592,073/female 3,563,840)
65 years and over: 2.7% (male 159,450/female 213,756) (2008 est.)

Median age

total: 16.8 years
male: 16.7 years
female: 16.8 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

2.39% (2008 est.)

Birth rate

41.79 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate

17.89 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate

NA

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.01 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

Infant mortality rate

total: 90.55 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 94.69 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 86.35 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 43.45 years
male: 43.74 years
female: 43.15 years (2008 est.)

Total fertility rate

5.67 children born/woman (2008 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate

14.2% (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS

900,000 (2003 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths

84,000 (2003 est.)

Major infectious diseases

degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague
water contact disease: schistosomiasis (2008)

Nationality

noun: Malawian(s)
adjective: Malawian

Ethnic groups

Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga, Ngoni, Ngonde, Asian, European

Religions

Christian 79.9%, Muslim 12.8%, other 3%, none 4.3% (1998 census)

Languages

Chichewa 57.2% (official), Chinyanja 12.8%, Chiyao 10.1%, Chitumbuka 9.5%, Chisena 2.7%, Chilomwe 2.4%, Chitonga 1.7%, other 3.6% (1998 census)

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 62.7%
male: 76.1%
female: 49.8% (2003 est.)