Area Database (v4.4.1)

GDL Area Profile Report

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Blantyre (Malawi)

This GDL Area Profile Report provides an overview of the major social and economic characteristics of the region or country. The figures are derived from the most recent national household survey available at the Global Data Lab. These and many other indicators can also be downloaded freely from the GDL Area Database. Further information on the indicators is available at the bottom of this report and at the GDL website.

Level of development Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
International Wealth Index (IWI) value1 43.5 1.26 13 / 13 ( 3 ) 2020
Poverty Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Percentage poor households (IWI value under 70) 85.0 -1.53 1 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Percentage poorer households (IWI value under 50) 64.0 -1.38 1 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Percentage poorest households (IWI value under 35) 43.5 -2.16 1 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Education Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Mean years education population aged 20+ 8.78 0.14 13 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Mean years education of women aged 20+ 8.05 0.13 13 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Mean years education of men aged 20+ 9.56 0.13 13 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Educational attendance Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Educational attendance children aged 6-8 (%) 95.1 -0.34 9 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Educational attendance children aged 9-11 (%) 99.9 0.37 13 / 13 ( 10 ) 2020
Educational attendance children aged 12-14 (%) 98.0 0.80 12 / 12 ( 9 ) 2020
Educational attendance children aged 15-17 (%) 83.7 0.13 11 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Educational attendance children aged 18-20 (%) 48.2 0.45 10 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Educational attendance children aged 21-23 (%) 17.5 -1.40 12 / 13 ( 4 ) 2020
Position of women Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Total fertility rate 3.41 -0.11 1 / 13 ( 5 ) 2016
Mean age difference partners (husband-wife) 5.66 0.00 8 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Mean age at first marriage of women aged 20-50 18.5 -0.01 13 / 13 ( 2 ) 2020
Mean age at first birth of women aged 20-50 18.7 0.02 9 / 13 ( 1 ) 2020
Percentage of women in 50+ population 52.1 -0.39 1 / 13 ( 5 ) 2020
Patrilocality Index (positive values patrilocal) -0.32 -0.24 6 / 13 ( 2 ) 2020
Position of children Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Infant mortality rate 54.5 1.88 9 / 13 ( 9 ) 2020
Under five mortality rate 67.1 -0.03 8 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Percentage stunted children 32.5 -0.13 5 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Percentage wasted children 1.80 -0.40 4 / 13 ( 2 ) 2020
Percentage underweight children 11.0 0.70 5 / 13 ( 6 ) 2020
Percentage overweight children 5.10 0.05 8 / 12 ( 5 ) 2020
Asset ownership Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Percentage households with a TV 37.2 0.38 13 / 13 ( 3 ) 2020
Percentage households with a refrigerator 22.3 1.23 13 / 13 ( 4 ) 2020
Percentage households with a motorbike 4.67 0.80 12 / 13 ( 3 ) 2020
Percentage households with a computer 13.3 1.14 13 / 13 ( 5 ) 2020
Access to public services Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Percentage of households with electricity 51.8 3.04 13 / 13 ( 4 ) 2020
Percentage households with a phone 79.5 1.75 13 / 13 ( 4 ) 2020
Percentage households with internet access 32.9 - 13 / 13 ( 7 ) 2020
Population Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Total area population in millions 1.20 0.02 10 / 13 ( 6 ) 2016
Share of national population living in area 6.91 -0.02 10 / 13 ( 6 ) 2020
Average household size 4.03 -0.29 1 / 13 ( 3 ) 2020
Percentage population in urban areas 61.5 -0.46 13 / 13 ( 8 ) 2020
Demographic window phase 2 0 1 / 2 ( 6 ) 2020
Dependency ratio 73.7 -2.48 1 / 13 ( 6 ) 2020
Quality of housing Value Trend National rank LMIC decile Year
Percentage households with three or more sleeping rooms 29.4 0.83 10 / 13 ( 6 ) 2020
Percentage households cooking on wood, straw, grass, dung etc. 99.8 1.39 1 / 10 ( 10 ) 2020

Meaning of the menu items: Value: Indicator value in GDL Area Database. Trend: Average yearly change in indicator value since preceding survey. National rank: Within-country rank on indicator (1 is highest value within country). Continent rank: Within continent rank on indicator (continents are America, Africa, Asia/Pacific and (Eastern) Europe). LMIC decile: Decile position on indicator among 1300+ regions within 125+ low and middle income countries.

The indicators presented in this GDL Profile Report are created by aggregating to the sub-national and national level from representative household surveys. Detailed information on the data and methods used is available here and in Smits (2016).

1 The International Wealth Index (IWI) is an asset-based index that measures the economic situation of households in LMICs on the basis of their ownership of assets, housing quality and access to public services. IWI runs from 0 to 100, with 0 meaning none of the assets and lowest quality housing and services and 100 all assets and highest quality housing and services (Smits & Steendijk, 2015).

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