Statizoid

Number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi

Malawi: Number of children who die before age 5 was 25,719 deaths in 2023. ▼ Falling

Latest (2023)
25,719 deaths
Change on year
down 2.0%
World rank
37th
of 236 countries
All-time high
108,662 deaths
in 1991
All-time low
25,719 deaths
in 2023
Years of data
74
1950–2023

Number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi, 1950–2023

20.0k40.0k60.0k80.0k100.0k195019862023

Source: UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in deaths.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 25,719 deaths for number of children who die before age 5 in 2023. That is the lowest value across all 74 years on record.

That represents a change of down 2.0% on the previous year and down 35.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi peaked at 108,662 deaths in 1991 and was at its lowest, 25,719 deaths, in 2023.

Malawi ranks 37th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 74 years of available data.

Number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi, year by year

Year deaths Change
1950 58,984 deaths —
1951 58,224 deaths -1.3%
1952 58,148 deaths -0.1%
1953 58,764 deaths +1.1%
1954 59,560 deaths +1.4%
1955 60,651 deaths +1.8%
1956 61,985 deaths +2.2%
1957 63,414 deaths +2.3%
1958 64,921 deaths +2.4%
1959 66,534 deaths +2.5%
1960 68,219 deaths +2.5%
1961 69,948 deaths +2.5%
1962 71,710 deaths +2.5%
1963 73,424 deaths +2.4%
1964 74,930 deaths +2.1%
1965 76,338 deaths +1.9%
1966 77,761 deaths +1.9%
1967 79,178 deaths +1.8%
1968 80,614 deaths +1.8%
1969 81,741 deaths +1.4%
1970 82,575 deaths +1.0%
1971 82,576 deaths +0.0%
1972 82,764 deaths +0.2%
1973 82,709 deaths -0.1%
1974 82,343 deaths -0.4%
1975 81,872 deaths -0.6%
1976 81,307 deaths -0.7%
1977 80,770 deaths -0.7%
1978 80,404 deaths -0.5%
1979 80,704 deaths +0.4%
1980 81,668 deaths +1.2%
1981 83,091 deaths +1.7%
1982 85,091 deaths +2.4%
1983 87,514 deaths +2.8%
1984 90,217 deaths +3.1%
1985 93,173 deaths +3.3%
1986 95,945 deaths +3.0%
1987 98,233 deaths +2.4%
1988 101,737 deaths +3.6%
1989 105,433 deaths +3.6%
1990 107,882 deaths +2.3%
1991 108,662 deaths +0.7%
1992 107,743 deaths -0.8%
1993 107,322 deaths -0.4%
1994 103,039 deaths -4.0%
1995 96,820 deaths -6.0%
1996 94,666 deaths -2.2%
1997 92,484 deaths -2.3%
1998 90,154 deaths -2.5%
1999 87,233 deaths -3.2%
2000 82,694 deaths -5.2%
2001 77,941 deaths -5.7%
2002 73,722 deaths -5.4%
2003 68,653 deaths -6.9%
2004 64,761 deaths -5.7%
2005 61,562 deaths -4.9%
2006 58,761 deaths -4.5%
2007 56,237 deaths -4.3%
2008 53,804 deaths -4.3%
2009 51,334 deaths -4.6%
2010 48,492 deaths -5.5%
2011 45,505 deaths -6.2%
2012 42,404 deaths -6.8%
2013 39,629 deaths -6.5%
2014 36,803 deaths -7.1%
2015 34,405 deaths -6.5%
2016 32,121 deaths -6.6%
2017 30,584 deaths -4.8%
2018 29,452 deaths -3.7%
2019 28,421 deaths -3.5%
2020 27,477 deaths -3.3%
2021 26,526 deaths -3.5%
2022 26,238 deaths -1.1%
2023 25,719 deaths -2.0%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1950s 61,118 deaths 58,148 deaths 66,534 deaths 10
1960s 75,386 deaths 68,219 deaths 81,741 deaths 10
1970s 81,802 deaths 80,404 deaths 82,764 deaths 10
1980s 92,210 deaths 81,668 deaths 105,433 deaths 10
1990s 99,600 deaths 87,233 deaths 108,662 deaths 10
2000s 64,947 deaths 51,334 deaths 82,694 deaths 10
2010s 36,782 deaths 28,421 deaths 48,492 deaths 10
2020s 26,490 deaths 25,719 deaths 27,477 deaths 4

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 34 South Sudan 31,927 deaths compare
  2. 35 Viet Nam 28,546 deaths compare
  3. 36 Iraq 26,373 deaths compare
  4. 38 Mexico 25,454 deaths compare
  5. 39 Sierra Leone 25,032 deaths compare
  6. 40 United States of America 22,683 deaths compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi?
Number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi was 25,719 deaths in 2023, according to UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of children who die before age 5 recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 108,662 deaths in 1991.
What is the lowest number of children who die before age 5 recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 25,719 deaths in 2023.
How does Malawi rank for number of children who die before age 5?
Malawi ranks 37th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is number of children who die before age 5 rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 35.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of children who die before age 5. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Number of children who die before age 5 in Malawi. Statizoid, drawing on UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-child-deaths-unwpp/malawi/

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About this data

Indicator
Number of children who die before age 5
Unit
deaths
Source
UN, World Population Prospects (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
236 places, 17,464 data points, 1950–2023
Last refreshed

Number of deaths in a calendar year. This only includes people aged 0-4.