THE population of Malawi, one of the world’s poorest countries, rose 2% a year over the last decade to 9.9 million people, just over half them women, the National Statistical Office said this week. The impoverished southeast African nation’s once-a-decade census said more than four-fifths of Malawians live in rural areas and just 2% of the population has access to electricity. The population growth was markedly lower than estimates predicting it would have reached 12 million by the end of this year. The census report said at least 2.2 million Malawians do not have access to any form of sanitation. About 66% of Malawians are economically active, but 78% of those working are engaged in subsistence farming, while only 13% have jobs.