Malaria Deaths Plummet in Southeast Asia

Malaria deaths fell by over 80 percent in the Southeast Asia Region between 2000 and 2023, according to data from the World Health Organization. Where 35,325 people succumbed to the mosquito-borne disease in 2000, the figure had dropped to 6,042 in 2023. In the latter year, Indonesia and India accounted for most of the region’s deaths, at a combined 5,337. The WHO Southeast Asia Region includes countries both in Southeast and South Asia.

Globally, 597,000 people are estimated to have died from malaria in 2023. This is a drop from the 622,000 estimated deaths in 2020. The WHO African Region has continued to carry the heaviest burden of mortality, having accounted for 95 percent of all estimated malaria deaths in 2023.