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Thee preliminary results of :lie i998 Malawi Population andHousing Census (MPHC) indicate that the population of Malawi is 9.8million. This _,figure is less than estimates prepared by most national andinternational institutions including renowned population specialistsworking an :lie population of Malawi. Nearly all-available populationprojections estimated :liar ill!! population of Malawi in i993 would bearound I l million. The aforementioned discrepancy has .tome seriousconsequences. Firs! :lie Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita may bedistorted in such a way as to suggest a general improvement in rite qualityof life contrary to the situation. Second, the results of the census may beinterpreted to indicate the success of me national population programespecially rite :rational family planning program. As a result of theseconsequences there is need to evaluate me census results to verify whetherthe reported figure is indeed correct or to provide a plausible explanationfor flue anomaly. Though not prescriptive, the paper offers plausibleexplanation for :lie observed differences. In particular, me paper arguesthat rite population figure obtained front the 1998 census, like most othercensuses in developing countries, were underreported. |
