What is the life expectancy in Malawi?

67.4 years at birth for both sexes combined, by the UN's 2024 estimate. Men can expect 64.1 years and women 70.6. The figure describes today's death rates applied across a whole life, so a child born now will probably live longer if mortality keeps falling.

How much longer do women live than men in Malawi?

6.5 years. The global figure gap is 5.4 years, so Malawi's gap is wider than usual. Wide gaps usually trace back to male smoking, drinking and accidents; narrow ones to women facing similar risks or poorer maternal health.

How does Malawi compare to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in our data at 85.5 years, 18.1 years more than Malawi. For men the difference is 18.7 years, for women 17.5.

How does Malawi compare to Pakistan?

Pakistan ranks 154th at 67.6 years, 0.2 years more than Malawi. Men: 65.3 against 64.1. Women: 70.2 against 70.6.

Life expectancy in Malawi

People in Malawi can expect to live 67.4 years at birth: men 64.1, women 70.6. That puts Malawi 155th of 200 countries in our data.

Key numbers

Both sexes

67.4 yrs

Men

64.1 yrs

Women

70.6 yrs

Gender gap

6.5 yrs

women minus men

Rank

155 of 200

vs Hong Kong (best)

-18.1 yrs

vs global figure

-5.8 yrs

73.2 yrs

Malawi among its neighbours

Ranking neighbours (three above and below) plus every Africa country in our data
#	Country	Both	Men	Women	Region
10	Réunion	83.5	80.5	86.3	Africa
78	Tunisia	76.5	73.9	79.1	Africa
81	Algeria	76.3	74.9	77.7	Africa
84	Cabo Verde	76.1	72.9	79.2	Africa
85	Mayotte	76.1	74.1	78.3	Africa
92	Morocco	75.3	73.2	77.6	Africa
95	Mauritius	74.9	71.9	78.2	Africa
114	Seychelles	72.9	69.9	76.5	Africa
128	Egypt	71.6	69.5	73.8	Africa
131	Western Sahara	71.4	69.7	73.5	Africa
141	Sao Tome and Principe	69.7	66.2	73.7	Africa
142	Libya	69.3	68.3	70.4	Africa
144	Botswana	69.2	66.7	71.7	Africa
146	Senegal	68.7	66.8	70.8	Africa
148	Eritrea	68.6	66.5	70.7	Africa
149	Mauritania	68.5	66.5	70.5	Africa
150	Gabon	68.3	65.9	71.1	Africa
151	Uganda	68.3	65.3	71.1	Africa
152	Rwanda	67.8	65.5	69.9	Africa
153	Timor-Leste	67.7	66.1	69.4	Asia
154	Pakistan	67.6	65.3	70.2	Asia
155	Malawi	67.4	64.1	70.6	Africa
156	Namibia	67.4	63.3	71.3	Africa
157	Ethiopia	67.3	64.1	70.7	Africa
158	Fiji	67.3	65.3	69.4	Oceania
160	Tanzania	67.0	64.2	69.8	Africa
162	Comoros	66.8	64.8	68.9	Africa
164	Sudan	66.3	63.3	69.6	Africa
165	Zambia	66.3	63.9	68.7	Africa
167	South Africa	66.1	62.6	69.6	Africa
169	Djibouti	66.0	63.5	68.5	Africa
170	Gambia	65.9	64.2	67.5	Africa
171	Republic of the Congo	65.8	64.1	67.5	Africa
172	Ghana	65.5	63.1	67.9	Africa
175	Angola	64.6	62.1	67.1	Africa
176	Guinea-Bissau	64.1	61.7	66.4	Africa
177	Eswatini	64.1	61.2	67.0	Africa
178	Burundi	63.7	61.6	65.7	Africa
179	Cameroon	63.7	61.5	65.9	Africa
180	Equatorial Guinea	63.7	62.0	65.7	Africa
181	Kenya	63.6	61.5	65.9	Africa
182	Madagascar	63.6	61.9	65.4	Africa
183	Mozambique	63.6	60.3	66.5	Africa
184	Zimbabwe	62.8	60.2	65.0	Africa
185	Togo	62.7	62.5	62.9	Africa
186	Liberia	62.2	60.9	63.4	Africa
187	DR Congo	61.9	59.8	64.0	Africa
188	Côte d'Ivoire	61.9	60.0	64.1	Africa
189	Sierra Leone	61.8	60.1	63.5	Africa
190	Niger	61.2	60.3	62.1	Africa
191	Burkina Faso	61.1	58.9	63.2	Africa
192	Benin	60.8	59.3	62.2	Africa
193	Guinea	60.7	59.5	61.9	Africa
194	Mali	60.4	59.0	61.9	Africa
195	Somalia	58.8	56.3	61.4	Africa
196	South Sudan	57.6	54.6	60.6	Africa
197	Central African Republic	57.4	55.3	59.3	Africa
198	Lesotho	57.4	54.6	60.0	Africa
199	Chad	55.1	53.2	57.0	Africa
200	Nigeria	54.5	54.2	54.7	Africa

Rough years remaining by age

Life expectancy at birth minus current age. A rough guide only, see note.
Age	Men	Women
20	44.1	50.6
30	34.1	40.6
40	24.1	30.6
50	14.1	20.6
60	4.1	10.6

This is a rough approximation. We do not have life tables for Malawi, so we subtract age from life expectancy at birth. Real remaining life expectancy is higher, especially at 50 and 60, because someone who has reached that age has already survived the risks of childhood and young adulthood. In high-income countries a 60-year-old typically has 4 to 6 more years than this table shows.

In plain language

A child born in Malawi today, if death rates at every age stayed exactly as they are, would live 67.4 years on average. Girls would get 6.5 more years than boys. That places Malawi 155th of the 200 countries we track, 5.8 years below the global figure of 73.2.

The gap to Hong Kong, the best in our data, is 18.1 years. Most of that difference comes from deaths before 60, not from how long the oldest people live.

Questions

What is the life expectancy in Malawi?: 67.4 years at birth for both sexes combined, by the UN's 2024 estimate. Men can expect 64.1 years and women 70.6. The figure describes today's death rates applied across a whole life, so a child born now will probably live longer if mortality keeps falling.
How much longer do women live than men in Malawi?: 6.5 years. The global figure gap is 5.4 years, so Malawi's gap is wider than usual. Wide gaps usually trace back to male smoking, drinking and accidents; narrow ones to women facing similar risks or poorer maternal health.
How does Malawi compare to Hong Kong?: Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy in our data at 85.5 years, 18.1 years more than Malawi. For men the difference is 18.7 years, for women 17.5.
How does Malawi compare to Pakistan?: Pakistan ranks 154th at 67.6 years, 0.2 years more than Malawi. Men: 65.3 against 64.1. Women: 70.2 against 70.6.

Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects 2024, estimates for 2023. Percentiles on this page are our estimate from a normal distribution with the stated mean and SD.

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🇲🇼Life expectancy in Malawi