Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network in Malawi
Malawi: Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network was 90.0% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network in Malawi, 2002–2024
Source: International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network in Malawi stood at 90.0%.
The figure is up 1.0% on the previous year and down 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network in Malawi peaked at 96.0% in 2016 and was at its lowest, 20.0%, in 2002.
Malawi ranks 186th of 212 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 18 years of available data.
Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network in Malawi, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 20.0% | — |
| 2003 | 28.0% | +40.0% |
| 2004 | 49.0% | +75.0% |
| 2005 | 70.0% | +42.9% |
| 2009 | 80.0% | +14.3% |
| 2010 | 85.0% | +6.2% |
| 2011 | 85.0% | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 85.0% | +0.0% |
| 2015 | 95.0% | +11.8% |
| 2016 | 96.0% | +1.1% |
| 2017 | 82.0% | -14.6% |
| 2018 | 84.0% | +2.4% |
| 2019 | 88.0% | +4.8% |
| 2020 | 86.0% | -2.3% |
| 2021 | 86.3% | +0.3% |
| 2022 | 87.9% | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 89.1% | +1.4% |
| 2024 | 90.0% | +1.0% |
Malawi compared with similar countries
- Malawi's 90.0% is below the median for low income countries, which is 91.6%, 98% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Malawi's 90.0% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 96.9%, 93% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | +75.0% | 28.0% | 49.0% |
| 2005 | +42.9% | 49.0% | 70.0% |
| 2003 | +40.0% | 20.0% | 28.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 49.4% | 20.0% | 80.0% | 5 |
| 2010s | 87.5% | 82.0% | 96.0% | 8 |
| 2020s | 87.9% | 86.0% | 90.0% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Malawi
More science & technology data for Malawi
- Mobile landline subscriptions, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, gaps filled 69.26 (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per capita 0.6926 units per person (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per unit of GDP 0.0013 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, gaps filled 15.00 million (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, per square kilometre 136.74 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Mobile landline subscriptions, annual growth rate 13.38 % change on previous year (2024)
- Mobile cellular subscriptions by country, annual growth rate 16.34 % change on previous year (2024)
- Scientific and technical journal articles 377.51 (2023)
- Scientific and technical journal articles, per capita 0 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network in Malawi?
- Share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network in Malawi was 90.0% in 2024, according to International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network recorded in Malawi?
- The highest recorded value was 96.0% in 2016.
- What is the lowest share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network recorded in Malawi?
- The lowest recorded value was 20.0% in 2002.
- How does Malawi rank for share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network?
- Malawi ranks 186th out of 212 countries with data for 2024.
- Is share of the population within range of a 2g, 3g, 4g, or 5g mobile network rising or falling in Malawi?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Malawi data come from?
- The figures come from International Telecommunication Union – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of the population within range of a 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G mobile network. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 18 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of population covered by at least a 2G mobile network (%).