Number of people treated for river blindness in Malawi

Malawi: Number of people treated for river blindness was 1.66 million People in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
1.66 million People
Change on year
up 5.9%
World rank
17th
of 33 countries
All-time high
2.14 million People
in 2021
All-time low
1.29 million People
in 2005
Years of data
20
2005–2024

Number of people treated for river blindness in Malawi, 2005–2024

0500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2005201420242005: 1.3M People2006: 1.5M People2007: 1.5M People2008: 1.6M People2009: 1.6M People2010: 1.7M People2011: 1.7M People2012: 1.8M People2013: 1.8M People2014: 1.8M People2015: 1.8M People2016: 1.9M People2017: 2.0M People2018: 2.1M People2019: 2.1M People2020: 2.1M People2021: 2.1M People2022: 1.4M People2023: 1.6M People2024: 1.7M People

Source: World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in People.

Analysis

Malawi recorded 1.66 million People for number of people treated for river blindness in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.9% on the previous year and down 8.3% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people treated for river blindness in Malawi peaked at 2.14 million People in 2021 and was at its lowest, 1.29 million People, in 2005.

That places Malawi 17th out of 33 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 20 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 1.51 million People 1.29 million People 1.64 million People 5
2010s 1.86 million People 1.67 million People 2.13 million People 10
2020s 1.77 million People 1.38 million People 2.14 million People 5

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 14 Togo 3.06 million People compare
  2. 15 Angola 2.68 million People compare
  3. 16 Burundi 1.94 million People compare
  4. 18 Central African Republic 1.66 million People compare
  5. 19 Yemen 1.29 million People compare
  6. 20 Congo 772,264 People compare

See the full ranking of 33 places →

More reference data data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people treated for river blindness in Malawi?
Number of people treated for river blindness in Malawi was 1.66 million People in 2024, according to World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest number of people treated for river blindness recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 2.14 million People in 2021.
What is the lowest number of people treated for river blindness recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 1.29 million People in 2005.
How does Malawi rank for number of people treated for river blindness?
Malawi ranks 17th out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
Is number of people treated for river blindness rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 8.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Malawi data come from?
The figures come from World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people treated for river blindness. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 20 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of people treated for river blindness
Unit
People
Source
World Health Organization - Global Health Observatory (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
33 places, 538 data points, 2005–2024
Last refreshed

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