Malaria Deaths Rise to 610,000 in 2024

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1 day ago
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This article is published in collaboration with Statista by Anna Fleck

An estimated 610,000 people died from malaria in 2024, according to the latest figures by the World Health Organization (WHO). The toll is far below the 864,000 deaths recorded in 2000, reflecting years of strong political commitment and global investment, which expanded access to insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs), rapid diagnostic tests and artemisinin-based combination therapies.

However, progress has stalled in recent years. Between 2019 and 2020, malaria deaths surged by about 54,000 worldwide, as the Covid-19 pandemicdisrupted prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Although this was followed by a partial recovery, with deaths declining from 621,000 in 2020 to 598,000 in 2023, the latest available data shows how there has been an increase again, this time by 12,000 deaths between 2023 and 2024.

Africa remains the epicenter of the crisis, accounting for roughly 95 percent of global deaths, with Madagascar (+4,900), Ethiopia (+3,800) and Yemen (+932) together accounting for 85 percent of the increase.

The WHO attributes the uptick to a combination of factors, including population growth, conflict and extreme climate events, the latter two of which have disrupted healthcare systems and hindered the delivery of prevention and treatment measures. Health officials are also warning of a growing threat from antimalarial drug resistance, as partial resistance to artemisinin has been confirmed or suspected in several African countries, alongside early signs of reduced drug efficacy in combination therapies. At the same time, genetic changes in malaria parasites are affecting the reliability of rapid diagnostics, while increasing insecticide resistance is weakening key mosquito control strategies.

Regionally, the Eastern Mediterranean recorded the second-highest death toll in 2024, with 22,100 fatalities (or about 3.6 percent of the global total). Sudan accounted for more than half of these (57.5 percent). Although the region saw a decline of 700 deaths compared with 2023, this was largely driven by a significant reduction in Pakistan (-2,000 estimated deaths), while Yemen (+932), Sudan (+189), Afghanistan (+68) and Somalia (+37) all reported increases.

South-East Asia has made major progress in the fight against malaria, reducing annual malaria deaths from 36,500 in 2000 to 3,900 in 2024, a drop of 89 percent. In contrast, the Americas have seen a reversal. After more than halving between 2000 and 2015, malaria deaths rose by 29.2 percent between 2015 and 2024. An estimated 504 people died there in 2024, with Haiti experiencing a nearly fourfold increase in deaths between 2023 and 2024. Meanwhile, the WHO European Region has remained malaria-free since 2015.

Experts warn that insufficient funding continues to hinder progress. The situation worsened in 2025 amid sharp cuts to foreign aid, exacerbating longstanding underinvestment in healthcare systems across many affected countries.

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