T1D Index estimates for 2025 · IDF Africa region · Low-Income country
An estimated 7,871 people are living with type 1 diabetes in Malawi in 2025. Each year about 1,025 people are newly diagnosed and 551 people with T1D die. A further 14,447 people would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes.
People living with T1D
7,871
New diagnoses this year
1,025
Deaths this year
551
Missing people
14,447
Expected age at death, diagnosed at 10
27.7years
How many people have type 1 diabetes in Malawi?
7,871 people in Malawi are living with type 1 diabetes in 2025, or 35.4 per 100,000 people. That is higher than the Africa average of 29.7 per 100,000 and lower than the global average of 115.5. Malawi has the 99th-largest number of people living with T1D of the 202 countries in the T1D Index, and the 17th-largest of the 49 countries in the IDF Africa region.
For every 100 people living with T1D in Malawi, another 184 are missing: people who would be alive today had they not died early from T1D.
Is type 1 diabetes increasing in Malawi?
The number of people living with T1D in Malawi went from 555 in 2000 to 7,871 in 2025, and is projected to rise to 18,661 by 2040 (+137%).
People living with type 1 diabetes in Malawi, 2000–2040. Solid line: modelled estimates to 2025; dashed line: projection to 2040.
Type 1 diabetes in Malawi over time, all ages
Year
Living with T1D
New diagnoses
Deaths
Missing people
2000
555
232
331
5,000
2010
1,708
446
480
8,200
2020
4,907
784
674
12,252
2025
7,871
1,025
551
14,447
2030 (projected)
11,532
1,421
839
17,454
2040 (projected)
18,661
1,713
1,239
26,627
What is the life expectancy with type 1 diabetes in Malawi?
A 10-year-old diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Malawi today is expected to live to 27.7, compared with 70.6 for a 10-year-old without T1D: 42.9 years of life lost. Counting years lived with complications as well, T1D costs 46.1 years of healthy life at today's level of care. If everyone received timely diagnosis, insulin and test strips, and insulin pumps and CGMs, that loss would fall to 15.3 years.
Healthy years of life for a 10-year-old diagnosed with T1D in Malawi, as each level of care is added in turn
Level of care
Healthy years restored
Healthy years of life
Healthy years still lost
Current level of care
–
24.5
46.1
+ Timely diagnosis for everyone
+4.9
29.4
41.3
+ Insulin and test strips for everyone
+18.8
48.2
22.4
+ Insulin pumps and CGMs for everyone
+7.1
55.3
15.3
How does Malawi compare?
Type 1 diabetes in Malawi compared with the Africa region and the world, 2025
2025
Malawi
Africa
World
People living with T1D per 100,000
35.4
29.7
115.5
New diagnoses per 100,000
4.6
4.0
6.2
Missing people per 100 living with T1D
183.5
160.4
43.0
Expected age at death, 10-year-old with T1D
27.7
24.4
51.3
Expected age at death, 10-year-old in general population
All figures are T1D Index version 3.0 estimates for all ages. Missing people are those who would be alive today had they not died early from type 1 diabetes. Expected age at death is for a 10-year-old. See Data & Methods for how the estimates are made and the peer-reviewed publications behind them.
