Largest cities in Malawi by population
The 4 cities the United Nations Demographic Yearbook 2024 lists for Malawi: the capital and every city of 100,000 or more, with the latest figure the country reported. The largest is Lilongwe with 1,126,143 people.
Who runs cities in Malawi?
Local councils (35: 28 district, 4 city, 2 municipal, 1 town): One councillor elected per ward for five years; traditional authorities, sub-traditional authorities and MPs sit as non-voting members; five more non-voting members are appointed for special interests; council elects a chair (called mayor in cities and municipalities). Local planning, primary schools and health services, markets, roads and local development.
How local power works in Malawi · Level 3: local councils worldwide
| # | City | Population | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lilongwe (capital) | 1,126,143 | 1 July 2022 |
| 2 | Blantyre City | 858,076 | 1 July 2022 |
| 3 | Mzuzu City | 261,578 | 1 July 2022 |
| 4 | Zomba City | 114,464 | 1 July 2022 |
Countries define a city in different ways (the city proper, or the wider urban area) and report in different years, so cities in different countries are not always comparable.
More on Malawi: official statistics · government and power · regions
Sources
- United Nations Statistics Division: Demographic Yearbook 2024, Table 8: Population of capital cities and cities of 100 000 or more inhabitants, latest available year, 2005-2024, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0c6784df022e…)
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