Businesses in Nkhata Bay

Industries

Business Distribution by Industry in Nkhata Bay

Industry Description	Number of Establishments
Other accommodation	13
Hotels and motels	10
Restaurants	8
Sports clubs	7
Bars, pubs and taverns	5

Nkhata Bay Facts

Area	8875.7 km²
Population	317,440
Male Population	154,801 (48.8%)
Female Population	162,639 (51.2%)
Population change (1975 to 2020)	+283.6%
Population change (2000 to 2020)	+73.5%
Median Age	17 years (Male: 16.4, Female: 17.5)
GDP per capita (PPP)	$1,095 (2022)
Local Time
Timezone	Central Africa Time
Lat & Lng	-11.60659, 34.29073

Map of Nkhata Bay

Interactive Map

Nkhata Bay Population

Years 1975 to 2030

Data	1975	1990	2000	2015	2020	2025*	2030*
Population	82,748	152,683	182,968	279,888	317,440	359,597	404,010
Population Density	9.3 / km²	17.2 / km²	20.6 / km²	31.5 / km²	35.8 / km²	40.5 / km²	45.5 / km²

* Projected

Sources: JRC (European Commission's Joint Research Centre) work on the GHS built-up grid

Nkhata Bay Population change from 2000 to 2020

Increase of 73.5% from year 2000 to 2020

Location	Change since 1975	Change since 1990	Change since 2000
Nkhata Bay	+283.6%	+107.9%	+73.5%
Malawi	—	—	—

Sources: JRC (European Commission's Joint Research Centre) work on the GHS built-up grid

Nkhata Bay Median Age

Median Age: 17 years

Location	Median Age	Median Age (Female)	Median Age (Male)
Nkhata Bay	17 yrs	17.5 yrs	16.4 yrs
Malawi	17.1 yrs	17.4 yrs	16.8 yrs

Sources: CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network)

Nkhata Bay Population Density

Population Density: 35.8 / km²

Location	Population	Area	Density
Nkhata Bay	317,440	8,875.7 km²	35.8 / km²
Malawi	17.4 million	118,839 km²	146 / km²

Sources: JRC (European Commission's Joint Research Centre) work on the GHS built-up grid

Nkhata Bay Historical and Projected Population

Estimated Population from 1750 to 2100

Sources:

JRC (European Commission's Joint Research Centre) work on the GHS built-up grid
CIESIN (Center for International Earth Science Information Network)
[Link] Klein Goldewijk, K., Beusen, A., Doelman, J., and Stehfest, E.: Anthropogenic land use estimates for the Holocene – HYDE 3.2, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 927–953, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-9-927-2017, 2017.

Human Development Index (HDI)

Statistic composite index of life expectancy, education, and per capita income.

Source: [Link] Kummu, M., Taka, M. &Guillaume, J. Gridded global datasets for Gross Domestic Product and Human Development Index over 1990–2015. Sci Data 5, 180004 (2018) doi:10.1038/sdata.2018.4

Nkhata Bay Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2017 international $)

Data	1990	1995	2000	2005	2010	2015	2020	2022
GDP per capita	$746	$915	$954	$968	$1,014	$1,113	$1,133	$1,095
Total GDP	$128.5M	$164.2M	$189.2M	$215.1M	$262.5M	$329M	$384.2M	$391.4M

Source: [Link] Kummu, M., Kosonen, M. & Masoumzadeh Sayyar, S. Downscaled gridded global dataset for gross domestic product (GDP) per capita PPP over 1990–2022. Sci Data 12, 178 (2025) doi:10.1038/s41597-025-04487-x

Nkhata Bay CO2 Emissions

Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions Per Capita in Tonnes Per Year

Location	CO2 Emissions	CO2 Emissions Per Capita	CO2 Emissions Intensity
Nkhata Bay	43,428 tn	0.14 tn	4.9 tons/km²
Malawi	2,635,428 tn	0.15 tn	22.2 tons/km²

Sources: [Link] Moran, D., Kanemoto K; Jiborn, M., Wood, R., Többen, J., and Seto, K.C. (2018) Carbon footprints of 13,000 cities. Environmental Research Letters DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/aac72a

Nkhata Bay CO2 Emissions

2013 CO2 emissions (tonnes/year)	43,428 tn
2013 CO2 emissions (tonnes/year) per capita	0.14 tn
2013 CO2 emissions intensity (tonnes/km²/year)	4.9 tons/km²

Natural Hazards Risk

Relative risk out of 10

Hazard	Risk Level
Drought	Medium (7)
Flood	Medium (4)
Earthquake	Medium (4)
Landslide	Medium (6)

* Risk, particularly concerning flood or landslide, may not be for the entire area.

Sources:

Dilley, M., R.S. Chen, U. Deichmann, A.L. Lerner-Lam, M. Arnold, J. Agwe, P. Buys, O. Kjekstad, B. Lyon, and G. Yetman. 2005. Natural Disaster Hotspots: A Global Risk Analysis. Washington, D.C.: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-5930-4.
Center for Hazards and Risk Research - CHRR - Columbia University, Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University, and Norwegian Geotechnical Institute - NGI. 2005. Global Landslide Hazard Distribution. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4P848VZ.
Center for Hazards and Risk Research - CHRR - Columbia University, Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University, and International Research Institute for Climate and Society - IRI - Columbia University. 2005. Global Drought Hazard Frequency and Distribution. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4VX0DFT.
Center for Hazards and Risk Research - CHRR - Columbia University, Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University. 2005. Global Flood Hazard Frequency and Distribution. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4668B3D.
Center for Hazards and Risk Research - CHRR - Columbia University, Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University. 2005. Global Earthquake Hazard Distribution - Peak Ground Acceleration. Palisades, NY: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). https://doi.org/10.7927/H4BZ63ZS.

Recent Nearby Earthquakes

Magnitude 3.0 and greater

Date▼	Time↕	Magnitude↕	Distance↕	Depth↕	Location↕	Link
4/23/18	4:17 PM	4.7	93 km	10,000 m	54km N of Nkhotakota, Malawi	usgs.gov
9/4/17	8:57 AM	4.2	84.7 km	10,000 m	7km NW of Tingi, Tanzania	usgs.gov
7/21/17	2:31 PM	4.3	64.3 km	12,800 m	8km W of Chipyela, Malawi	usgs.gov
9/7/16	4:24 AM	4.6	18.8 km	10,000 m	18km NNE of Nkhata Bay, Malawi	usgs.gov
6/27/12	3:35 AM	4.5	25.3 km	10,000 m	Malawi	usgs.gov
3/8/11	8:31 PM	4.3	29.3 km	10,000 m	Malawi	usgs.gov
3/19/10	11:09 AM	4.3	47.2 km	10,000 m	Malawi	usgs.gov
3/24/09	2:12 AM	4.1	35.6 km	32,100 m	Malawi	usgs.gov
9/12/07	9:54 AM	3.8	51.4 km	28,600 m	Malawi	usgs.gov
8/3/06	12:28 AM	4	54.4 km	10,000 m	Malawi	usgs.gov

Source: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)

Nkhata Bay

Bay or just Nkhata is the capital of the Nkhata Bay District in Malawi. It is on the shore of Lake Malawi (formerly Lake Nyasa), east of Mzuzu, and is one of the main ports on Lake Malawi. The population of Nkhata Bay is estimated to be 14,722 as o..

Nkhata Bay Wikipedia Page

About Our Data

The data on this page is estimated using a number of publicly available tools and resources. It is provided without warranty, and could contain inaccuracies. Use at your own risk.