8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Africa / Eastern Africa

Born in Malawi

About 1 in 199 people born in 2023 started life in Malawi. A boy can expect to live 64 years and a girl 71, up from 31 and 34 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and 72% have basic drinking water.

1 in 199
odds of being born here
662,300 births · Ranked 45th of 230
64 / 71
years of life, boys / girls
Was 31 / 34 in 1950
$925
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 200th of 203 · extrapolated
17%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 35 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 388 in every 1,000 births to 39.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth64.1 years for boys, 70.6 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 539.3 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year113,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people0.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles87%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV6.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year119 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year291 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.8 children on average in 1950. Now it is 3.6.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman3.65UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2019
7%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
21%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $925 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 7% (2019)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises28.8% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.6% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming65% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed61% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment37% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lilongwe, with 1.1 million people.

17%
live in cities
16%
have electricity at home
72%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lilongwe1.1 million
Blantyre902,588
Mzuzu249,564
Zomba118,440
Karonga69,486
Languages
Share of people who can use each
English63%
Nyanja63%
Tumbuka8%
English, Nyanja is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Central Region1.4 million
Southern Region1.2 million
Northern Region409,808

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

People on the move

About 2.0% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
South Africa220,437
Zimbabwe111,872
Mozambique65,284
Residents born abroad0.9% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 2.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSouth Africa (220,437), Zimbabwe (111,872), Mozambique (65,284)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $305.7 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

9% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

9%
of older people receive a pension (2022)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20242,686Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19503NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Malawi, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Malawi

Elsewhere in Africa

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences