Number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi

Malawi: Number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness was 2.03 million People in 2024. ▼ Falling

Latest (2024)
2.03 million People
Change on year
down 3.6%
World rank
19th
of 31 countries
All-time high
2.49 million People
in 2020
All-time low
1.67 million People
in 2022
Years of data
12
2013–2024

Number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi, 2013–2024

0500.0k1.0M1.5M2.0M2.5M2013201820242013: 2.2M People2014: 2.3M People2015: 2.2M People2016: 2.3M People2017: 2.3M People2018: 2.5M People2019: 2.4M People2020: 2.5M People2021: 2.5M People2022: 1.7M People2023: 2.1M People2024: 2.0M People

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

Analysis

In 2024, number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi stood at 2.03 million People.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 3.6% on the previous year and down 11.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi peaked at 2.49 million People in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.67 million People, in 2022.

That places Malawi 19th out of 31 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 12 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 2.32 million People 2.22 million People 2.48 million People 7
2020s 2.16 million People 1.67 million People 2.49 million People 5

Countries ranked near Malawi

  1. 16 Central African Republic 3.80 million People compare
  2. 17 Togo 3.40 million People compare
  3. 18 Burundi 2.27 million People compare
  4. 20 Yemen 1.46 million People compare
  5. 21 Mozambique 1.43 million People compare
  6. 22 Congo 841,658 People compare

See the full ranking of 31 places →

More population data for Malawi

All data for Malawi →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi?
Number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness in Malawi was 2.03 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 requiring preventive treatment for river blindness recorded in Malawi?
The highest recorded value was 2.49 million People in 2020.
What is the lowest number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness recorded in Malawi?
The lowest recorded value was 1.67 million People in 2022.
How does Malawi rank for number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness?
Malawi ranks 19th out of 31 countries with data for 2024.
Is number of people requiring preventive treatment for river blindness rising or falling in Malawi?
Over the last ten years it is down 11.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
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 requiring preventive treatment for river blindness. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 12 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Number of people requiring preventive treatment 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
31 places, 359 data points, 2013–2024
Last refreshed

The estimated number of people at risk of river blindness) who require preventive chemotherapy.