Ethiopia vs Malawi: Life expectancy
Ethiopia
67.31 years
in 2023
Malawi
67.35 years
in 2023
Ethiopia rank
191st
Malawi rank
189th
Life expectancy over time
- Ethiopia
- Malawi
How they compare
Malawi currently reports 67.35 years against 67.31 years in Ethiopia, a difference of 0.04 years.
The two have swapped places 7 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Ethiopia ahead.
Ethiopia ranks 191st and Malawi ranks 189th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Ethiopia averaged higher in 7 and Malawi in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Ethiopia | Malawi | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 36.02 years | 33.57 years | 2.45 years | Ethiopia |
| 1960s | 40.95 years | 35.69 years | 5.26 years | Ethiopia |
| 1970s | 41.11 years | 39.87 years | 1.24 years | Ethiopia |
| 1980s | 41.57 years | 44.35 years | 2.78 years | Malawi |
| 1990s | 48 years | 43.96 years | 4.04 years | Ethiopia |
| 2000s | 54.38 years | 51.55 years | 2.83 years | Ethiopia |
| 2010s | 63.04 years | 61.78 years | 1.25 years | Ethiopia |
| 2020s | 66.38 years | 65.85 years | 0.5306 years | Ethiopia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher life expectancy, Ethiopia or Malawi?
- Malawi, at 67.35 years against 67.31 years in Ethiopia as of 2023.
- What is the difference in life expectancy between Ethiopia and Malawi?
- 0.04 years, with Malawi ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Ethiopia and Malawi?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do Ethiopia and Malawi rank globally for life expectancy?
- Ethiopia ranks 191st and Malawi ranks 189th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.