NDI
HomeCountriesMalawi
Country profile · Sub-Saharan Africa

Mortality in Malawi, by the numbers

Malawi sits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A newborn there can expect about 67.5 years of life, 168th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for Malawi, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
67.5 yrs
168th of 212
GDP per capita
$523
4th lowest of 212
Population aged 65+
2.6 %
11th lowest of 212

17 measures · sources: World Bank Open Data and WHO Global Health Observatory (Global Health Estimates 2021) · latest available year per figure

How Malawi ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 67.5 yrs 168 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 13.6 /1,000 15 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 5.3 /1,000 180 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 15.3 yrs 162 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 110 /1,000 26 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 6.5 yrs 41 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 69.8 men/100 women 45 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 38.0 /1,000 28 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 225 /100k 34 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 24.9 % 30 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 7.6 /100k 88 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 33.4 /100k 11 of 187 2019
Adult obesity 4.7 % 126 of 143 2009
Recorded alcohol per adult 3.6 L 108 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 2.6 % 202 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $41 177 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $523 209 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, Malawi's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 4th lowest GDP per capita in the world ($523) and the 11th lowest population aged 65+ in the world (2.6 %). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for Malawi; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.