Malawi vs Zambia: Population growth

Population growth in 2023: 2.57% a year in Malawi and 2.83% a year in Zambia, by UN estimates. In 2023 the value was higher in Zambia, by 0.26 percentage points, or 1.1 times that in Malawi.

Watch it change on the map

% a year · UN

MalawiZambiaUN projection (medium variant)95% prediction intervalWorld

What the numbers say

Zambia has been higher since 1993, when it overtook Malawi.
In 2023, Malawi ranked 23 and Zambia ranked 17 of 229 countries, counting from the highest.
The UN projection (medium variant) puts Malawi at 0.42% a year and Zambia at 0.52% a year in 2100.
The world as a whole: 0.87% a year in 2023.

Every year

% a year · UN

Year	Malawi	Zambia	World
2023	2.57	2.83	0.87
2022	2.57	2.75	0.88
2021	2.57	2.77	0.8
2020	2.62	2.86	0.9
2019	2.65	2.95	1.03
2018	2.65	2.97	1.07
2017	2.69	3.04	1.13
2016	2.72	3.1	1.17
2015	2.73	3.09	1.18
2014	2.78	3.15	1.22
2013	2.83	3.2	1.23
2012	2.85	3.21	1.27
2011	2.9	3.28	1.26
2010	2.94	3.37	1.27
2009	2.96	3.55	1.28
2008	2.95	3.52	1.28
2007	2.86	3.61	1.28
2006	2.79	3.44	1.28
2005	2.72	3.45	1.27
2004	2.63	3.15	1.28
2003	2.54	3.21	1.29
2002	2.47	3	1.3
2001	2.43	3.16	1.33
2000	2.41	2.88	1.35
1999	2.39	2.74	1.35
1998	2.28	2.62	1.37
1997	2.04	2.62	1.39
1996	1.97	2.49	1.42
1995	1.97	2.42	1.45
1994	-2.26	2.41	1.47
1993	-0.08	2.37	1.52
1992	3.02	2.4	1.57
1991	2.8	2.43	1.63
1990	3.37	2.53	1.76
1989	4.56	2.59	1.78
1988	4.89	2.69	1.79
1987	5.94	2.8	1.84
1986	3.56	2.98	1.83
1985	3.82	2.99	1.8
1984	3.88	3.01	1.8
1983	3.94	3.15	1.78
1982	3.96	3.3	1.86
1981	3.94	3.12	1.82
1980	3.91	3	1.8
1979	3.79	2.98	1.79
1978	3.59	3.01	1.74
1977	3.23	3.04	1.75
1976	2.97	3.04	1.78
1975	2.85	3.03	1.8
1974	2.76	2.96	1.88
1973	2.66	2.91	1.94
1972	2.58	2.85	1.97
1971	2.53	2.78	1.97
1970	2.48	2.73	2.06
1969	2.45	3.13	2.06
1968	2.48	3.24	2.09
1967	2.48	3.22	2
1966	2.47	3.2	2.04
1965	2.44	3.19	2.09
1964	2.44	3.14	2.16
1963	2.46	3.17	2.28
1962	2.43	3.15	2.11
1961	2.4	3.14	1.67
1960	2.36	3.12	1.58
1959	2.32	3.11	1.73
1958	2.26	3.09	2
1957	2.19	3.07	2.07
1956	2.13	3.06	1.98
1955	2.06	3.05	2.01
1954	1.99	3.05	1.99
1953	1.97	3.05	1.9
1952	1.91	3.04	1.94
1951	1.82	3.04	1.75
1950	1.71	3.07	1.74

UN projection (medium variant) · 2024–2100

Year	Malawi	Zambia	World
2024	2.580.99–4.06	2.791.94–3.51	0.86
2025	2.540.55–4.21	2.751.87–3.51	0.84
2026	2.530.51–4.41	2.721.77–3.52	0.83
2027	2.510.39–4.51	2.681.7–3.49	0.81
2028	2.470.12–4.53	2.631.61–3.51	0.8
2029	2.470.22–4.66	2.591.52–3.45	0.78
2030	2.410.23–4.51	2.551.49–3.45	0.76
2031	2.330.12–4.43	2.511.37–3.45	0.75
2032	2.30.16–4.46	2.461.31–3.41	0.73
2033	2.290.02–4.49	2.411.22–3.41	0.72
2034	2.230.04–4.37	2.371.19–3.4	0.7
2035	2.20.03–4.33	2.331.12–3.39	0.69
2036	2.160.04–4.29	2.281.07–3.34	0.67
2037	2.14-0.01–4.38	2.221.04–3.34	0.65
2038	2.02-0.13–4.13	2.170.95–3.32	0.64
2039	1.99-0.13–4.21	2.120.89–3.3	0.62
2040	1.95-0.32–4.09	2.080.85–3.28	0.61
2041	1.91-0.32–4.08	2.030.76–3.26	0.59
2042	1.86-0.45–4.21	1.990.78–3.26	0.57
2043	1.83-0.56–4.14	1.960.7–3.25	0.56
2044	1.84-0.46–4.04	1.920.67–3.26	0.54
2045	1.77-0.5–3.82	1.880.62–3.22	0.52
2046	1.75-0.63–3.83	1.850.61–3.23	0.5
2047	1.71-0.56–3.78	1.810.53–3.19	0.48
2048	1.63-0.58–3.76	1.780.48–3.16	0.46
2049	1.64-0.5–3.88	1.740.45–3.14	0.44
2050	1.61-0.61–3.74	1.70.39–3.12	0.42
2051	1.6-0.7–3.83	1.670.36–3.13	0.4
2052	1.56-0.88–3.83	1.630.31–3.14	0.38
2053	1.56-0.79–3.83	1.60.24–3.11	0.36
2054	1.47-0.85–3.75	1.580.23–3.13	0.34
2055	1.47-0.96–3.68	1.550.22–3.08	0.33
2056	1.39-0.89–3.56	1.520.16–3.1	0.31
2057	1.39-0.84–3.72	1.490.11–3.01	0.3
2058	1.34-0.96–3.74	1.470.07–3.02	0.28
2059	1.37-1.05–3.57	1.440.05–3.03	0.27
2060	1.3-0.99–3.5	1.420.05–3.01	0.25
2061	1.27-1.12–3.5	1.38-0.04–3	0.24
2062	1.2-1.26–3.45	1.36-0.11–2.94	0.23
2063	1.15-1.32–3.44	1.32-0.11–2.94	0.22
2064	1.15-1.21–3.45	1.3-0.15–2.95	0.21
2065	1.13-1.26–3.51	1.27-0.2–2.97	0.2
2066	1.12-1.28–3.55	1.24-0.27–2.94	0.19
2067	1.08-1.61–3.53	1.22-0.22–2.98	0.18
2068	1.06-1.58–3.44	1.19-0.26–2.98	0.17
2069	1.02-1.5–3.45	1.18-0.29–2.97	0.16
2070	1-1.56–3.34	1.15-0.31–2.93	0.15
2071	0.98-1.6–3.37	1.12-0.32–2.89	0.14
2072	0.92-1.65–3.2	1.1-0.38–2.86	0.13
2073	0.9-1.74–3.34	1.08-0.4–2.89	0.12
2074	0.9-1.67–3.21	1.05-0.45–2.87	0.1
2075	0.89-1.62–3.28	1.03-0.52–2.78	0.09
2076	0.89-1.58–3.38	1-0.55–2.78	0.08
2077	0.88-1.73–3.13	0.98-0.62–2.77	0.07
2078	0.81-1.84–3.21	0.96-0.61–2.81	0.06
2079	0.8-1.75–3.23	0.93-0.66–2.79	0.05
2080	0.79-1.9–3.27	0.92-0.7–2.82	0.04
2081	0.76-1.8–3.25	0.89-0.72–2.8	0.03
2082	0.73-1.91–3.3	0.87-0.78–2.84	0.02
2083	0.72-1.91–3.15	0.85-0.83–2.81	0.01
2084	0.64-2.15–3.07	0.83-0.87–2.81	-0
2085	0.65-2.08–3.04	0.8-0.89–2.84	-0.01
2086	0.62-2.03–3.02	0.79-0.89–2.84	-0.02
2087	0.61-2.03–3.06	0.77-0.98–2.82	-0.03
2088	0.61-2–3.09	0.73-1.07–2.78	-0.04
2089	0.56-2.23–3.15	0.72-1.08–2.78	-0.05
2090	0.55-2.12–3.1	0.7-1.15–2.75	-0.05
2091	0.51-2.13–3.07	0.69-1.16–2.75	-0.06
2092	0.51-2.25–3.14	0.66-1.22–2.79	-0.07
2093	0.47-2.35–2.95	0.64-1.23–2.76	-0.07
2094	0.46-2.38–3.08	0.63-1.31–2.7	-0.08
2095	0.43-2.59–3.05	0.6-1.33–2.74	-0.09
2096	0.45-2.62–3.03	0.58-1.34–2.72	-0.1
2097	0.42-2.65–2.84	0.57-1.36–2.73	-0.11
2098	0.43-2.54–2.83	0.55-1.41–2.69	-0.11
2099	0.43-2.59–2.87	0.53-1.51–2.67	-0.12
2100	0.42-2.55–2.86	0.52-1.5–2.67	-0.13

Each country on its own

Good to know

How fast the population grew or shrank in a year: births minus deaths, plus people moving in minus people moving out.
Source: UN DESA, World Population Prospects 2024.
The dashed line is the UN projection (medium variant), a scenario rather than a forecast; the band is its 95% prediction interval.
Ranks count the 229 countries with a value in 2023, highest first.
The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

Malawi vs Zambia: Population growth

What the numbers say

Every year

Each country on its own

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Malawi vs Zambia

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