In 2017, an estimated 219 million cases of malaria occurred in 90 countries. Although there were an estimated 20 million fewer malaria cases in 2017 than in 2010, for the period 2015–2017, the report highlights that no significant progress in reducing global malaria cases has been made.

Most malaria cases in 2017 were in the WHO African Region (200 million or 92%), followed by the WHO South-East Asia Region (5%) and the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (2%).