Malawi vs Zambia: Child mortality rate
Malawi
4.88 deaths per 100 live births
in 2024
Zambia
4.84 deaths per 100 live births
in 2024
Malawi rank
30th
Zambia rank
32nd
Child mortality rate over time
- Malawi
- Zambia
How they compare
Malawi currently reports 4.88 deaths per 100 live births against 4.84 deaths per 100 live births in Zambia, a difference of 0.04 deaths per 100 live births.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 64 shared years of data; in 1961 it was Malawi ahead.
Malawi ranks 30th and Zambia ranks 32nd of 200 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Malawi averaged higher in 5 and Zambia in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Malawi | Zambia | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 35.2 deaths per 100 live births | 19.15 deaths per 100 live births | 16.06 deaths per 100 live births | Malawi |
| 1970s | 30.7 deaths per 100 live births | 16.22 deaths per 100 live births | 14.48 deaths per 100 live births | Malawi |
| 1980s | 25.09 deaths per 100 live births | 16.54 deaths per 100 live births | 8.55 deaths per 100 live births | Malawi |
| 1990s | 21.26 deaths per 100 live births | 17.23 deaths per 100 live births | 4.03 deaths per 100 live births | Malawi |
| 2000s | 12.88 deaths per 100 live births | 11.11 deaths per 100 live births | 1.77 deaths per 100 live births | Malawi |
| 2010s | 6.15 deaths per 100 live births | 6.25 deaths per 100 live births | 0.094 deaths per 100 live births | Zambia |
| 2020s | 4.98 deaths per 100 live births | 5 deaths per 100 live births | 0.02 deaths per 100 live births | Zambia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher child mortality rate, Malawi or Zambia?
- Malawi, at 4.88 deaths per 100 live births against 4.84 deaths per 100 live births in Zambia as of 2024.
- What is the difference in child mortality rate between Malawi and Zambia?
- 0.04 deaths per 100 live births, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Malawi and Zambia?
- 64 years are reported by both, from 1961 to 2024.
- How do Malawi and Zambia rank globally for child mortality rate?
- Malawi ranks 30th and Zambia ranks 32nd of 200 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Gapminder (2015); UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Child mortality rate. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
The long-run estimated share of newborns who die before reaching the age of five.