Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Malawi
Malawi: Cereals, primary — Area harvested was 1.75 million ha in 2024. ▲ Rising
Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Malawi, 1961–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in ha.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cereals, primary — area harvested in Malawi is 1.75 million ha, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 15.3% on the previous year and down 8.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cereals, primary — area harvested in Malawi peaked at 2.11 million ha in 2021 and was at its lowest, 876,100 ha, in 1962.
That places Malawi 61st out of 178 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.
Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Malawi, year by year
| Year | ha | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 878,200 ha | — |
| 1962 | 876,100 ha | -0.2% |
| 1963 | 890,561 ha | +1.7% |
| 1964 | 898,056 ha | +0.8% |
| 1965 | 1.11 million ha | +23.6% |
| 1966 | 1.13 million ha | +1.7% |
| 1967 | 972,100 ha | -13.9% |
| 1968 | 1.17 million ha | +20.8% |
| 1969 | 1.18 million ha | +0.9% |
| 1970 | 1.12 million ha | -5.4% |
| 1971 | 1.20 million ha | +7.3% |
| 1972 | 1.26 million ha | +5.0% |
| 1973 | 1.31 million ha | +3.8% |
| 1974 | 1.27 million ha | -2.9% |
| 1975 | 1.16 million ha | -8.8% |
| 1976 | 1.17 million ha | +0.4% |
| 1977 | 1.18 million ha | +0.8% |
| 1978 | 1.24 million ha | +5.3% |
| 1979 | 1.25 million ha | +0.7% |
| 1980 | 1.05 million ha | -15.4% |
| 1981 | 1.17 million ha | +10.6% |
| 1982 | 1.27 million ha | +8.8% |
| 1983 | 1.23 million ha | -3.4% |
| 1984 | 1.23 million ha | +0.7% |
| 1985 | 1.22 million ha | -1.4% |
| 1986 | 1.27 million ha | +4.1% |
| 1987 | 1.25 million ha | -1.1% |
| 1988 | 1.29 million ha | +3.0% |
| 1989 | 1.35 million ha | +4.4% |
| 1990 | 1.43 million ha | +5.9% |
| 1991 | 1.47 million ha | +3.3% |
| 1992 | 1.43 million ha | -2.9% |
| 1993 | 1.44 million ha | +0.4% |
| 1994 | 1.24 million ha | -13.9% |
| 1995 | 1.35 million ha | +9.6% |
| 1996 | 1.40 million ha | +3.2% |
| 1997 | 1.40 million ha | +0.1% |
| 1998 | 1.44 million ha | +3.0% |
| 1999 | 1.51 million ha | +4.9% |
| 2000 | 1.57 million ha | +4.0% |
| 2001 | 1.59 million ha | +1.1% |
| 2002 | 1.64 million ha | +3.1% |
| 2003 | 1.77 million ha | +8.4% |
| 2004 | 1.68 million ha | -5.0% |
| 2005 | 1.67 million ha | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 1.93 million ha | +15.2% |
| 2007 | 1.39 million ha | -27.7% |
| 2008 | 1.78 million ha | +27.7% |
| 2009 | 1.79 million ha | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 1.89 million ha | +5.6% |
| 2011 | 1.87 million ha | -1.0% |
| 2012 | 1.84 million ha | -2.0% |
| 2013 | 1.88 million ha | +2.5% |
| 2014 | 1.91 million ha | +1.8% |
| 2015 | 1.89 million ha | -1.4% |
| 2016 | 1.88 million ha | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 1.95 million ha | +3.8% |
| 2018 | 1.91 million ha | -2.0% |
| 2019 | 1.98 million ha | +3.4% |
| 2020 | 2.01 million ha | +1.7% |
| 2021 | 2.11 million ha | +5.0% |
| 2022 | 2.07 million ha | -2.0% |
| 2023 | 2.06 million ha | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 1.75 million ha | -15.3% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 1.75 million ha is above the median for low income countries, which is 1.51 million ha, 1.2× the median. (22 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 1.75 million ha is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 1.26 million ha, 1.4× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Cereals, primary — Area harvested in Malawi changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | -27.7% | 1.93 million ha | 1.39 million ha |
| 2008 | +27.7% | 1.39 million ha | 1.78 million ha |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.01 million ha | 876,100 ha | 1.18 million ha | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.22 million ha | 1.12 million ha | 1.31 million ha | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.23 million ha | 1.05 million ha | 1.35 million ha | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.41 million ha | 1.24 million ha | 1.51 million ha | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.68 million ha | 1.39 million ha | 1.93 million ha | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.90 million ha | 1.84 million ha | 1.98 million ha | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.00 million ha | 1.75 million ha | 2.11 million ha | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 24.6 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.3003 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 201.66 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.19 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0012 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.8241 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 30.0% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 30.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.9% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cereals, primary — area harvested in Malawi?
- Cereals, primary — area harvested in Malawi was 1.75 million ha in 2024, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest cereals, primary — area harvested recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 2.11 million ha in 2021.
- What is the lowest cereals, primary — area harvested recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 876,100 ha in 1962.
- How does Malawi rank for cereals, primary — area harvested?
- Malawi ranks 61st out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is cereals, primary — area harvested rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.8%. 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, published as part of Cereals, primary — Area harvested. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 64 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
Crop and livestock statistics are recorded for 278 products, covering the following categories: 1) CROPS PRIMARY: Cereals, Citrus Fruit, Fibre Crops, Fruit, Oil Crops, Oil Crops and Cakes in Oil Equivalent, Pulses, Roots and Tubers, Sugar Crops, Treenuts and Vegetables. Data are expressed in terms of area harvested, production quantity and yield. Cereals: Area and production data on cereals relate to crops harvested for dry grain only. Cereal crops harvested for hay or harvested green for food, feed or silage or used for grazing are therefore excluded. 2) CROPS PROCESSED: Beer of barley; Cotton lint; Cottonseed; Margarine, short; Molasses; Oil, coconut (copra); Oil, cottonseed; Oil, groundnut; Oil, linseed; Oil, maize; Oil, olive, virgin; Oil, palm; Oil, palm kernel; Oil, rapeseed; Oil, safflower; Oil, sesame; Oil, soybean; Oil, sunflower; Palm kernels; Sugar Raw Centrifugal; Wine. 3) LIVE ANIMALS: Animals live n.e.s.; Asses; Beehives; Buffaloes; Camelids, other; Camels; Cattle; Chickens; Ducks; Geese and guinea fowls; Goats; Horses; Mules; Pigeons, other birds; Pigs; Rabbits and hares; Rodents, other; Sheep; Turkeys. 4) LIVESTOCK PRIMARY: Beeswax; Eggs (various types); Hides buffalo, fresh; Hides, cattle, fresh; Honey, natural; Meat (ass, bird nes, buffalo, camel, cattle, chicken, duck, game, goat, goose and guinea fowl, horse, mule, Meat nes, meat other camelids, Meat other rodents, pig, rabbit, sheep, turkey); Milk (buffalo, camel, cow, goat, sheep); Offals, nes; Silk-worm cocoons, reelable; Skins (goat, sheep); Snails, not sea; Wool, greasy. 5) LIVESTOCK PROCESSED: Butter (of milk from sheep, goat, buffalo, cow); Cheese (of milk from goat, buffalo, sheep, cow milk); Cheese of skimmed cow milk; Cream fresh; Ghee (cow and buffalo milk); Lard; Milk (dry buttermilk, skimmed condensed, skimmed cow, skimmed dried, skimmed evaporated, whole condensed, whole dried, whole evaporated); Silk raw; Tallow; Whey (condensed and dry); Yoghurt.