2026-09-21 · 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.
Africa carried about 95% of the world's estimated 600,000 malaria deaths in 2023 — and most of those lost were young children. Bed nets, drugs and new vaccines have pushed the disease back, yet hundreds of thousands still die every year.
1 cell = 600 estimated deaths in 2023 (0.1% of global malaria deaths) · 1,000 cells
Context
The figures come from WHO's World Malaria Report. Africa accounts for 95% of the estimated 600,000 malaria deaths in 2023; Asia & Pacific (2.6%) and the Americas (1%) make up most of the remainder.
The tools work: insecticide-treated nets, effective drugs and vaccines have driven decades of progress. Vaccines reached children in 17 endemic countries in 2024, and in 2026 WHO prequalified the first-ever malaria treatment for newborns and infants.
New evidence confirms the malaria vaccine saves child lives and will have high impact in wider rollout. But WHO is now guiding countries on prioritizing interventions amid "ever increasing financial constraints" — making sustained funding a decisive factor in how far the remaining toll falls.
WHO World Malaria Report regional shares.
Share and export
Credit this grid as Inagrid — https://inagrid.com/e/2026-09-21-malaria-deaths