Number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi
Malawi: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 14.47 million people in 2019. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi, 1997–2019
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
In 2019, number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi stood at 14.47 million people. That is the highest value across all 5 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 14.1% on the previous year and up 33.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi peaked at 14.47 million people in 2019 and was at its lowest, 6.94 million people, in 1997.
Malawi ranks 11th of 120 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6.94 million people | 6.94 million people | 6.94 million people | 1 |
| 2000s | 9.36 million people | 9.36 million people | 9.36 million people | 1 |
| 2010s | 12.68 million people | 10.88 million people | 14.47 million people | 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 men 0.1766 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient by sex 0.1477 (2023)
- Lifespan inequality: Gini coefficient in women 0.1477 (2023)
- Income inequality: Atkinson index 0.3925 (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in Malawi was 14.47 million people in 2019, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 14.47 million people in 2019.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 6.94 million people in 1997.
- How does Malawi rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- Malawi ranks 11th out of 120 countries with data for 2019.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 33.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- 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 Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 5 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption below $3 per day.