Published 2026-08-28 · data 2023 · estimated deaths in 2023
Malaria still kills mostly children in Africa
Bed nets and drugs worked — yet hundreds of thousands of deaths remain each year.
Malaria killed an estimated 600,000 people in 2023, and 95% of those deaths were in Africa — overwhelmingly among young children. Bed nets, medicines, and vaccines have driven decades of progress, yet the parasite still claims hundreds of thousands of lives every year. This grid shows where the burden falls.
1 cell = 600 estimated deaths in 2023 (0.1% of global malaria deaths) · 1,000 cells
Context
An estimated 600,000 people died of malaria in 2023, according to WHO's World Malaria Report regional shares. Africa accounted for 95% of those deaths, with the remaining 5% spread across the rest of the world. Young children bear the heaviest toll.
The tools that work are well established: insecticide-treated bed nets, effective medicines, and, more recently, vaccines. WHO reported that malaria vaccines reached children in 17 endemic countries in 2024, and in April 2026 it prequalified the first-ever malaria treatment for newborns and infants.
Outside sub-Saharan Africa, the parasite Plasmodium vivax drives a substantial share of the burden. WHO's Global Malaria Programme coordinates the global response under the Global technical strategy for malaria 2016–2030, and has flagged ever-increasing financial constraints in 2026 guidance on prioritizing interventions in resource-constrained settings.
WHO World Malaria Report regional shares.
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Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-08-28-malaria-deaths