The number of malaria cases worldwide reached an estimated 282 million in 2024, up from 273 million the previous year, and the disease killed roughly 610,000 people, according to the World Health Organization’s World Malaria Report 2025. The increase, which follows a reversal of earlier gains since 2015, has been linked to extreme climate events and intensifying conflict in endemic countries. At the same time, mosquito species capable of transmitting dengue, chikungunya and malaria are establishing themselves in new territories, with Aedes albopictus detected in parts of Portugal, France and Greece between mid-2025 and early 2026.

Scientists point to overlapping drivers. Rising temperatures and altered rainfall patterns are making more regions suitable for Aedes aegypti, a vector now present in about 150 countries. Global trade provides pathways: used tyres and live plants transport eggs and larvae across borders, while adult mosquitoes can travel long distances inside cars, trains and aircraft. An analysis published in October found that 45 disease-carrying mosquito species have been introduced into new areas, 12 of them since 2000, a rate the study’s co-author, César Capinha of the University of Lisbon, described as a very strong increase.

The burden falls heaviest on sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 94 per cent of cases and 95 per cent of deaths. About three-quarters of malaria deaths on the continent occur among children under five. Nigeria, together with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Uganda, shoulders more than half the global total. For pregnant women, the risks are compounded: poorly treated malaria can inflame the placenta, restrict foetal growth, trigger preterm delivery and cause stillbirth. In Nigeria, the disease is associated with 11 per cent of maternal deaths and more than 70 per cent of pregnancy-related illness, according to the Federal Ministry of Health.

Ahead of World Malaria Day 2026, held under the theme “Driven to End Malaria: Now We Can. Now We Must,” the WHO notes that innovations such as vaccines, next-generation insecticide-treated nets and improved medicines are saving lives, but warns that drug resistance, climate change, humanitarian crises and funding shortfalls threaten progress. Since 2000, interventions are estimated to have prevented 2.3 billion cases and saved 14 million lives, and 47 countries have been certified malaria-free. The next milestone to watch is whether the renewed political commitment translates into the sustained investment needed to reverse the current upward trajectory.