Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi

Malawi: Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories was 21.4 percent in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
21.4 percent
Change on year
up 3.4%
World rank
24th
of 169 countries
All-time high
24.1 percent
in 2003
All-time low
13.9 percent
in 2011
Years of data
23
2001–2023

Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi, 2001–2023

05101520252001201220232001: 23.2 percent2002: 23.4 percent2003: 24.1 percent2004: 23.2 percent2005: 21.5 percent2006: 19.3 percent2007: 17.5 percent2008: 15.9 percent2009: 14.7 percent2010: 14.1 percent2011: 13.9 percent2012: 14.2 percent2013: 14.9 percent2014: 15.5 percent2015: 16.3 percent2016: 16.7 percent2017: 17.6 percent2018: 18.3 percent2019: 19.3 percent2020: 19.9 percent2021: 20.4 percent2022: 20.7 percent2023: 21.4 percent

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in percent.

Analysis

In 2023, share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi stood at 21.4 percent.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 3.4% on the previous year and up 43.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi peaked at 24.1 percent in 2003 and was at its lowest, 13.9 percent, in 2011.

Malawi ranks 24th of 169 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 23 years of available data.

Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi, year by year

Annual values for Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi, 2001 to 2023.
Year percent Change
2001 23.2 percent
2002 23.4 percent +0.9%
2003 24.1 percent +3.0%
2004 23.2 percent -3.7%
2005 21.5 percent -7.3%
2006 19.3 percent -10.2%
2007 17.5 percent -9.3%
2008 15.9 percent -9.1%
2009 14.7 percent -7.5%
2010 14.1 percent -4.1%
2011 13.9 percent -1.4%
2012 14.2 percent +2.2%
2013 14.9 percent +4.9%
2014 15.5 percent +4.0%
2015 16.3 percent +5.2%
2016 16.7 percent +2.5%
2017 17.6 percent +5.4%
2018 18.3 percent +4.0%
2019 19.3 percent +5.5%
2020 19.9 percent +3.1%
2021 20.4 percent +2.5%
2022 20.7 percent +1.5%
2023 21.4 percent +3.4%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 20.31 percent 14.7 percent 24.1 percent 9
2010s 16.08 percent 13.9 percent 19.3 percent 10
2020s 20.6 percent 19.9 percent 21.4 percent 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 21 Uganda 22 percent compare
  2. 22 Bolivia 21.8 percent compare
  3. 22 Mozambique 21.8 percent compare
  4. 25 Tanzania 20.2 percent compare
  5. 26 Solomon Islands 20 percent compare
  6. 27 Nigeria 19.9 percent compare

See the full ranking of 169 places →

More reference data data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi?
Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi was 21.4 percent 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 share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 24.1 percent in 2003.
What is the lowest share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 13.9 percent in 2011.
How does Malawi rank for share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories?
Malawi ranks 24th out of 169 countries with data for 2023.
Is share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is up 43.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
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 Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories. 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).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Retrieved 01 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-undernourishment-vs-daily-supply-of-calories/malawi/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/prevalence-of-undernourishment-vs-daily-supply-of-calories/malawi/">Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories in Malawi</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Share of people who are undernourished vs. daily supply of calories
Unit
percent
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
169 places, 3,850 data points, 2001–2023
Last refreshed

Share of the population whose daily food intake does not provide enough energy to maintain a normal, active, and healthy life.