Number of cattle in Malawi
Malawi: Number of cattle was 2.31 million animals in 2024. ▲ Rising
Number of cattle in Malawi, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in animals.
Analysis
In 2024, number of cattle in Malawi stood at 2.31 million animals. That is the highest value across all 64 years on record.
That represents a change of up 5.5% on the previous year and up 75.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of cattle in Malawi peaked at 2.31 million animals in 2024 and was at its lowest, 374,762 animals, in 1961.
That places Malawi 81st out of 196 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 64 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 424,592 animals | 374,762 animals | 479,916 animals | 9 |
| 1970s | 632,389 animals | 491,459 animals | 789,533 animals | 10 |
| 1980s | 919,892 animals | 789,529 animals | 1.06 million animals | 10 |
| 1990s | 747,653 animals | 598,175 animals | 838,552 animals | 10 |
| 2000s | 819,048 animals | 749,029 animals | 982,921 animals | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.38 million animals | 1.07 million animals | 1.87 million animals | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.09 million animals | 1.95 million animals | 2.31 million animals | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 4.48 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 30.0% (2025)
- Rural population 18.31 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.2% (2025)
- Rural population 82.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 30.0% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 30.0% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.04 million hectares (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of cattle in Malawi?
- Number of cattle in Malawi was 2.31 million animals in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of cattle recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 2.31 million animals in 2024.
- What is the lowest number of cattle recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 374,762 animals in 1961.
- How does Malawi rank for number of cattle?
- Malawi ranks 81st out of 196 countries with data for 2024.
- Is number of cattle rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 75.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of cattle. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).