Share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi
Malawi: Share of cereals allocated to animal feed was 11.7% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi, 1961–2023
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Malawi recorded 11.7% for share of cereals allocated to animal feed in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 30.4% on the previous year and up 22.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi peaked at 18.3% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 3.7%, in 2015.
Malawi ranks 142nd of 192 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 63 years of available data.
Share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 10.0% | — |
| 1962 | 12.4% | +24.0% |
| 1963 | 7.7% | -38.4% |
| 1964 | 7.0% | -8.2% |
| 1965 | 8.0% | +13.7% |
| 1966 | 7.9% | -0.6% |
| 1967 | 10.9% | +37.2% |
| 1968 | 10.8% | -1.4% |
| 1969 | 9.5% | -11.3% |
| 1970 | 9.8% | +2.7% |
| 1971 | 12.9% | +31.8% |
| 1972 | 13.0% | +0.8% |
| 1973 | 12.8% | -1.8% |
| 1974 | 12.7% | -0.9% |
| 1975 | 11.7% | -7.9% |
| 1976 | 11.4% | -2.5% |
| 1977 | 11.3% | -0.8% |
| 1978 | 9.9% | -12.1% |
| 1979 | 9.8% | -1.3% |
| 1980 | 8.8% | -9.7% |
| 1981 | 6.7% | -24.3% |
| 1982 | 6.9% | +2.6% |
| 1983 | 4.5% | -34.0% |
| 1984 | 4.3% | -5.4% |
| 1985 | 4.1% | -3.9% |
| 1986 | 4.9% | +18.4% |
| 1987 | 4.5% | -6.9% |
| 1988 | 4.9% | +8.8% |
| 1989 | 4.7% | -4.1% |
| 1990 | 4.7% | -0.9% |
| 1991 | 9.3% | +99.5% |
| 1992 | 6.8% | -26.8% |
| 1993 | 17.0% | +148.9% |
| 1994 | 6.3% | -63.1% |
| 1995 | 10.1% | +61.5% |
| 1996 | 10.7% | +5.2% |
| 1997 | 10.0% | -6.1% |
| 1998 | 10.2% | +2.2% |
| 1999 | 13.2% | +28.9% |
| 2000 | 12.8% | -3.1% |
| 2001 | 8.6% | -32.8% |
| 2002 | 8.5% | -0.5% |
| 2003 | 8.4% | -1.6% |
| 2004 | 8.1% | -4.0% |
| 2005 | 6.0% | -25.9% |
| 2006 | 14.2% | +138.1% |
| 2007 | 15.9% | +11.4% |
| 2008 | 14.4% | -9.1% |
| 2009 | 17.4% | +20.5% |
| 2010 | 11.5% | -34.1% |
| 2011 | 11.7% | +2.3% |
| 2012 | 11.3% | -3.8% |
| 2013 | 9.5% | -15.5% |
| 2014 | 4.1% | -57.2% |
| 2015 | 3.7% | -10.4% |
| 2016 | 3.7% | +1.0% |
| 2017 | 9.1% | +146.1% |
| 2018 | 7.1% | -22.0% |
| 2019 | 5.2% | -26.7% |
| 2020 | 14.5% | +178.0% |
| 2021 | 18.3% | +26.5% |
| 2022 | 16.8% | -8.1% |
| 2023 | 11.7% | -30.4% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 11.7% is above the median for low income countries, which is 4.0%, 2.9× the median. (23 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 11.7% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 9.3%, 1.3× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of cereals allocated to animal feed 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +178.0% | 5.2% | 14.5% |
| 1993 | +148.9% | 6.8% | 17.0% |
| 2017 | +146.1% | 3.7% | 9.1% |
| 2006 | +138.1% | 6.0% | 14.2% |
| 1991 | +99.5% | 4.7% | 9.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.4% | 7.0% | 12.4% | 9 |
| 1970s | 11.5% | 9.8% | 13.0% | 10 |
| 1980s | 5.4% | 4.1% | 8.8% | 10 |
| 1990s | 9.8% | 4.7% | 17.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 11.4% | 6.0% | 17.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.7% | 3.7% | 11.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.3% | 11.7% | 18.3% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More agriculture & rural data for Malawi
- Cropland extent over the long-term, annual growth rate 1.1 % change on previous year (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0.0003 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Cropland extent over the long-term, per capita 0.1965 hectares per person (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, annual growth rate 0.7718 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per unit of GDP 0.0004 hectares per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agricultural area over the long-term, per capita 0.2798 hectares per person (2025)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi?
- Share of cereals allocated to animal feed in Malawi was 11.7% in 2023, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of cereals allocated to animal feed recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 18.3% in 2021.
- What is the lowest share of cereals allocated to animal feed recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.7% in 2015.
- How does Malawi rank for share of cereals allocated to animal feed?
- Malawi ranks 142nd out of 192 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of cereals allocated to animal feed rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.8%. 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 (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of cereals allocated to animal feed. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 63 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of cereals available for domestic use – after accounting for trade – that is allocated to animal feed, relative to the total used for human food, animal feed, and industrial purposes. This excludes cereals used for seed, processing, and losses.