Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi
Malawi: Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day was 99.9% in 2019. ▬ Flat
Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi, 1997–2019
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi is 99.9%, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
The figure is up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi peaked at 99.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 99.2%, in 1997.
That places Malawi 5th out of 120 countries with data for 2019, putting it in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 99.2% | 99.2% | 99.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 99.8% | 99.8% | 99.8% | 1 |
| 2010s | 99.8% | 99.6% | 99.9% | 3 |
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)
- 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)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 15.1% (2023)
- Gender Inequality Index 0.581 (2023)
- Share of government consumption in GDP vs. share of population living in extreme poverty 7.4% (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.1477 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient by sex 0.1477 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in men 0.1766 (2023)
- Income inequality: Atkinson index 0.3925 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi?
- Poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day in Malawi was 99.9% in 2019, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 99.9% in 2019.
- What is the lowest poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 99.2% in 1997.
- How does Malawi rank for poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day?
- Malawi ranks 5th out of 120 countries with data for 2019.
- Is poverty: share of population living on less than $30 a day rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Poverty: Share of population living on less than $30 a day. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below $30 per day.