Population living in slums in Malawi
Malawi: Population living in slums was 38.0% in 2022. ▼ Falling
Population living in slums in Malawi, 2000–2022
Source: Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Measured in % of urban population.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 38.0% for population living in slums in 2022. That is the lowest value across all 12 years on record.
That represents a change of down 23.7% on the previous year and down 37.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, population living in slums in Malawi peaked at 81.4% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 38.0%, in 2022.
That places Malawi 60th out of 174 countries with data for 2022, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.
Population living in slums in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % of urban population | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 81.4% | — |
| 2002 | 77.9% | -4.3% |
| 2004 | 74.4% | -4.5% |
| 2006 | 70.9% | -4.7% |
| 2008 | 67.4% | -5.0% |
| 2010 | 63.8% | -5.2% |
| 2012 | 60.3% | -5.5% |
| 2014 | 56.8% | -5.8% |
| 2016 | 53.3% | -6.2% |
| 2018 | 49.8% | -6.6% |
| 2020 | 49.8% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 38.0% | -23.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 74.4% | 67.4% | 81.4% | 5 |
| 2010s | 56.8% | 49.8% | 63.8% | 5 |
| 2020s | 43.9% | 38.0% | 49.8% | 2 |
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 population living in slums in Malawi?
- Population living in slums in Malawi was 38.0% in 2022, according to Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).
- What is the highest population living in slums recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 81.4% in 2000.
- What is the lowest population living in slums recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 38.0% in 2022.
- How does Malawi rank for population living in slums?
- Malawi ranks 60th out of 174 countries with data for 2022.
- Is population living in slums rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Urban Indicators Database, UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), published as part of Population living in slums (% of urban population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Population living in slums is the proportion of the urban population living in slum households. A slum household is defined as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following conditions: access to improved water, access to improved sanitation, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure, as adopted in the Millennium Development Goal Target 7.D. The successor, the Sustainable Development Goal 11.1.1, considers inadequate housing (housing affordability) to complement the above definition of slums/informal settlements.