Having a population of about 13, 603,181, Malawi is the home of varied ethnic groups like Chewa, Tumbuka, Nyanja, Yao, Lomwe, Sena. The growth rate of Malawi population IS 2.383 percent.
One of the major causes of population loss in Malawi is AIDS. Due to this deadly disease the life expectancy of the Malawi people have lowered to a large extent. The major contagious diseases affecting Malawi people are protozoan diarrhea, hepatitis A and typhoid fever. The Malawi population also suffers from higher infant mortality.
According to a survey made in 2007, the birth rate in Malawi population is 42.09 percent and death rate is 18.25 percent. Following is some important information regarding the population in Malawi:
- Sex ratio: at birth: 1.02 male(s)/female
- under 15 years: 1.004 male(s)/female
- 15-64 years: 1.005 male(s)/female
- Infant mortality rate: total: 92.1 deaths/1,000 live births
- Female: 87.85 deaths/1,000 live births
- Male: 96.27 deaths/1,000 live births
- HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate: 14.2%
- People having HIV/AIDS: 900,000
- HIV/AIDS – deaths: 84,000
- Life expectancy at birth: total population: 42.98 years
- Male: 43.35 years
- Female: 42.61 years
- Total fertility rate: 5.74 children born/woman
The Malawi people communicate in different languages namely, Chichewa, Chinyanja, Chiyao, Chilomwe, and many more. The Chichewa language is used by 57.2 percent of the Malawi populace. Apart from Chichewa, Chinyanja and Chiyao languages of Malawi are also extensively used by the Malawi people. One of the primary occupations of the Malawi people is farming. People living in the rural parts of Malawi are also engaged in making various types of hard wood carvings.