Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malawi
Malawi: Income inequality: Atkinson index was 0.3925 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malawi, 2010–2023
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for income inequality: atkinson index in Malawi is 0.3925, measured in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 14 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 16.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, income inequality: atkinson index in Malawi peaked at 0.4673 in 2011 and was at its lowest, 0.3925, in 2020.
Malawi ranks 40th of 174 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 14 years of available data.
Income inequality: Atkinson index in Malawi, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 0.4005 | — |
| 2011 | 0.4673 | +16.7% |
| 2012 | 0.4673 | +0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.4673 | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.4673 | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.4673 | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.4673 | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.442 | -5.4% |
| 2018 | 0.442 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.442 | +0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.3925 | -11.2% |
| 2021 | 0.3925 | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.3925 | +0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.3925 | +0.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 0.3925 is below the median for low income countries, which is 0.3934, 100% of the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 0.3925 is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.4345, 90% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0.453 | 0.4005 | 0.4673 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3925 | 0.3925 | 0.3925 | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More poverty & inequality data for Malawi
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 2 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 3.65 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 1,857 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -4.49 % change on previous year (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 15.06 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 15.1% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is income inequality: atkinson index in Malawi?
- Income inequality: atkinson index in Malawi was 0.3925 in 2023, according to UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 0.4673 in 2011.
- What is the lowest income inequality: atkinson index recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3925 in 2020.
- How does Malawi rank for income inequality: atkinson index?
- Malawi ranks 40th out of 174 countries with data for 2023.
- Is income inequality: atkinson index rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Income inequality: Atkinson index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
The Atkinson index measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality. Depending on the country and year, the data relates to income measured after taxes and benefits, or to consumption, per capita.