Number of people who are undernourished in Malawi
Malawi: Number of people who are undernourished was 4.50 million millions in 2023. ▲ Rising
Number of people who are undernourished in Malawi, 2001–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in millions.
Analysis
In 2023, number of people who are undernourished in Malawi stood at 4.50 million millions. That is the highest value across all 23 years on record.
That represents a change of up 4.7% on the previous year and up 87.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people who are undernourished in Malawi peaked at 4.50 million millions in 2023 and was at its lowest, 2.10 million millions, in 2009.
Malawi ranks 29th of 131 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 23 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 2.60 million millions | 2.10 million millions | 2.90 million millions | 9 |
| 2010s | 2.74 million millions | 2.10 million millions | 3.70 million millions | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.20 million millions | 3.90 million millions | 4.50 million millions | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More reference data data for Malawi
- Spring temperature anomalies -0.0372 °C (2026)
- Summer temperature anomalies 0.606 °C (2026)
- Temperature anomalies by month 0.3659 °C (2026)
- Universal right to vote in practice 2 (2025)
- Autumn temperature anomalies 0.9529 °C (2025)
- Winter temperature anomalies -0.5269 °C (2025)
- Consumer price index 1,313 2010 = 100 (2025)
- Universal right to vote 2 (2025)
- Competitive elections 1 (2025)
- Men's universal right to vote 1 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people who are undernourished in Malawi?
- Number of people who are undernourished in Malawi was 4.50 million millions in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 4.50 million millions in 2023.
- What is the lowest number of people who are undernourished recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.10 million millions in 2009.
- How does Malawi rank for number of people who are undernourished?
- Malawi ranks 29th out of 131 countries with data for 2023.
- Is number of people who are undernourished rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 87.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people who are undernourished. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 23 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Undernourishment is measured as having a caloric intake that is insufficient to meet the minimum energy requirements necessary for a given individual.