Sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi
Malawi: Sex gap in life expectancy was 6.49 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
6.49 years
Change on year
down 3.3%
World rank
49th
of 236 countries
All-time high
7.14 years
in 2020
All-time low
2.39 years
in 1995
Years of data
74
1950–2023
Sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi, 1950–2023
Source: Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 6.49 years for sex gap in life expectancy in 2023.
That represents a change of down 3.3% on the previous year and up 18.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi peaked at 7.14 years in 2020 and was at its lowest, 2.39 years, in 1995.
That places Malawi 49th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.
Sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi, year by year
| Year | years | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 3.51 years | — |
| 1951 | 3.47 years | -1.1% |
| 1952 | 3.5 years | +0.8% |
| 1953 | 3.46 years | -1.3% |
| 1954 | 3.5 years | +1.3% |
| 1955 | 3.4 years | -3.0% |
| 1956 | 3.35 years | -1.5% |
| 1957 | 3.34 years | -0.1% |
| 1958 | 3.25 years | -2.9% |
| 1959 | 3.11 years | -4.2% |
| 1960 | 3.2 years | +3.0% |
| 1961 | 3.12 years | -2.6% |
| 1962 | 3.09 years | -0.7% |
| 1963 | 3.03 years | -2.2% |
| 1964 | 3.09 years | +2.1% |
| 1965 | 3.11 years | +0.6% |
| 1966 | 3.12 years | +0.4% |
| 1967 | 3.19 years | +2.4% |
| 1968 | 3.08 years | -3.6% |
| 1969 | 3.05 years | -1.0% |
| 1970 | 3.04 years | -0.4% |
| 1971 | 2.76 years | -9.0% |
| 1972 | 2.84 years | +2.7% |
| 1973 | 2.91 years | +2.5% |
| 1974 | 2.92 years | +0.4% |
| 1975 | 3.16 years | +8.1% |
| 1976 | 3.41 years | +8.0% |
| 1977 | 3.67 years | +7.6% |
| 1978 | 3.94 years | +7.5% |
| 1979 | 3.98 years | +1.0% |
| 1980 | 4.09 years | +2.8% |
| 1981 | 4.07 years | -0.4% |
| 1982 | 3.94 years | -3.3% |
| 1983 | 3.9 years | -1.0% |
| 1984 | 3.88 years | -0.5% |
| 1985 | 3.81 years | -1.8% |
| 1986 | 3.69 years | -3.1% |
| 1987 | 3.52 years | -4.7% |
| 1988 | 3.25 years | -7.5% |
| 1989 | 3.14 years | -3.4% |
| 1990 | 2.98 years | -5.4% |
| 1991 | 2.88 years | -3.2% |
| 1992 | 2.7 years | -6.2% |
| 1993 | 2.55 years | -5.7% |
| 1994 | 2.49 years | -2.2% |
| 1995 | 2.39 years | -4.1% |
| 1996 | 2.55 years | +7.0% |
| 1997 | 2.78 years | +8.7% |
| 1998 | 2.99 years | +7.6% |
| 1999 | 3.1 years | +3.8% |
| 2000 | 3.17 years | +2.3% |
| 2001 | 3.07 years | -3.2% |
| 2002 | 3.16 years | +2.8% |
| 2003 | 3.43 years | +8.7% |
| 2004 | 3.42 years | -0.2% |
| 2005 | 3.63 years | +6.0% |
| 2006 | 3.6 years | -0.8% |
| 2007 | 3.36 years | -6.7% |
| 2008 | 3.5 years | +4.0% |
| 2009 | 3.77 years | +7.8% |
| 2010 | 4.26 years | +13.2% |
| 2011 | 4.67 years | +9.5% |
| 2012 | 5.02 years | +7.5% |
| 2013 | 5.49 years | +9.3% |
| 2014 | 5.71 years | +3.9% |
| 2015 | 5.85 years | +2.5% |
| 2016 | 6.08 years | +3.9% |
| 2017 | 6.3 years | +3.6% |
| 2018 | 6.88 years | +9.2% |
| 2019 | 6.84 years | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 7.14 years | +4.3% |
| 2021 | 6.9 years | -3.3% |
| 2022 | 6.71 years | -2.8% |
| 2023 | 6.49 years | -3.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 3.39 years | 3.11 years | 3.51 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 3.11 years | 3.03 years | 3.2 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 3.26 years | 2.76 years | 3.98 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.73 years | 3.14 years | 4.09 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.74 years | 2.39 years | 3.1 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 3.41 years | 3.07 years | 3.77 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.71 years | 4.26 years | 6.88 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.81 years | 6.49 years | 7.14 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More health data for Malawi
- Un projection of annual infant deaths, annual growth rate -0.8368 % change on previous year (2100)
- Heat deaths vs projected death rates, annual growth rate 0.9312 % change on previous year (2090)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 856.3 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Number of infants who die before age 1 6,399 deaths (2100)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, gaps filled 2 (2025)
- Total tetanus - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, gaps filled 0 (2025)
- Diphtheria - number of reported cases, per capita 0 units per person (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, gaps filled 1,158 (2025)
- Measles - number of reported cases, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi?
- Sex gap in life expectancy in Malawi was 6.49 years in 2023, according to Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest sex gap in life expectancy recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 7.14 years in 2020.
- What is the lowest sex gap in life expectancy recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.39 years in 1995.
- How does Malawi rank for sex gap in life expectancy?
- Malawi ranks 49th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is sex gap in life expectancy rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 18.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Sex gap in life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Difference in period life expectancy (females - males) at a given age.