Malaria situation worldwide.

 

This year’s report highlights several notable successes and encouraging trends – even amid serious challenges. Since 2000, 2.3 billion malaria cases and 14 million malaria deaths have been averted worldwide. There has been continued movement towards global elimination goals, with 47 countries and one territory now officially certified as malaria free by the World Health Organization (WHO). In 2024, progress in low-burden settings was sustained, with 37 countries reporting fewer than 1000 cases. Core effective interventions, such as the use of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) and dual active ingredient insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), seasonal and perennial malaria chemoprevention (SMC and PMC) and the malaria vaccine, were also expanded. Despite these gains, malaria remains a serious global health challenge, with an estimated 282 million cases and 610 000 deaths worldwide in 2024 – a slight increase compared with 2023. The WHO African Region continues to account for most cases and deaths, with 11 countries accounting for about two thirds of the global malaria burden. Progress is not on track to meet critical Global technical strategy for malaria 2016–2030 (GTS) 2025 targets for reductions in incidence and mortality.

Despite challenges, malaria prevention and response continue to have a measurable impact. Since 2000, malaria control efforts have helped avert 2.3 billion cases and 14 million deaths worldwide. Alongside core malaria interventions, new tools and broader health and development improvements – such as urbanization, improved housing, nutrition, education and access to primary care – have reduced exposure to malaria vectors and improved survival after infection.

Between 2000 and 2024, the number of countries reporting fewer than 1000 malaria cases per year increased from 13 to 37, while countries reporting fewer than 10 cases increased from four to 24.

Between 2015 and 2024, indigenous Plasmodium falciparum cases fell by nearly 90% in the GMS, with Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Viet Nam nearing elimination. This success reflects strong national leadership, targeted use of effective treatments, robust surveillance and sustained community engagement, proving that malaria elimination is achievable even in areas long affected by antimalarial drug resistance.

Malaria free certification is granted when a country can prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the chain of indigenous malaria transmission has been interrupted nationwide for at least 3 consecutive years. Recently certified countries include Egypt, Georgia, Suriname and Timor-Leste (as of October 2025)

■ In 2024, there were an estimated 282 million new malaria cases in 80 malaria endemic countries worldwide, up from 273 million in 2023 and 230 million in 2015. Increases in cases were largely driven by trends in a few countries, including Ethiopia (+2.9 million), Madagascar (+1.9 million) and Yemen (+378 000). Malaria case incidence, which accounts for population growth, grew in the period 2015–2024 from 59 to 64 cases per 1000 population at risk. 

■ The global tally of malaria deaths reached 610 000 in 2024, compared with 578 000 in 2015. Since 2015, the global malaria mortality rate has declined from 14.9 to 13.8 deaths per 100 000 population at risk. The increase in the number of deaths, despite the declining mortality rate, reflects the effects of population growth, while interventions were effective in reducing the mortality rate.

 ■ The WHO African Region remained hardest hit by malaria in 2024, accounting for 94% of cases and 95% of deaths globally, with 75% of deaths in the region occurring in children aged under 5 years. Five countries – the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda – contributed more than half of all global cases.

■ About two thirds of global malaria cases and deaths are concentrated in 11 African countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique, the Niger, Nigeria, the Sudan, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.1 Case incidence (cases per 1000 population at risk) and mortality rate (deaths per 100 000 population at risk) in these countries declined by about 1% and 14%, respectively, in the period 2017–2024. 

■ Between 2015 and 2024, the WHO African Region achieved a 2% reduction in case incidence and a 17% decline in mortality rate. However, rates in 2024 for both indicators were more than double the target levels set by the GTS.

■ The GTS calls for reductions in malaria case incidence and mortality rate of at least 75% by 2025 and 90% by 2030, compared with 2015 baseline levels. The 2024 malaria incidence of 64 cases per 1000 population at risk was more than three times higher than the 18 cases per 1000 needed to reach the target. 

■ In 2024, there were 13.8 malaria deaths per 100 000 population at risk, more than three times the GTS target of 4.5 deaths per 100 000.

  Read the executive summary of the report!