On the map
COVID-19 cases by country, year by year (2020–2026)
The COVID-19 layer adds up WHO’s reported new cases for each country by calendar year, and by month in fine navigation. It shows 779 million reported cases between January 2020 and August 2026. The shape of the curve says as much about testing and reporting as about the virus.
See this on the map ↗2020: the first year
WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on 30 January 2020 and described COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March. By the end of 2020 countries had reported 82.3 million cases. The United States reported 19.6 million, India 10.3 million and Brazil 7.6 million.
2021: Delta
Reported cases more than doubled to 203 million in 2021. The largest counts came from the United States, India, Brazil and the United Kingdom. In fine navigation, the Delta wave appears in India in April and May 2021.
2022: Omicron and the peak of reporting
2022 is the darkest year on the map: 444 million reported cases in 230 reporting countries and territories. China reported 84.8 million cases after ending its zero-COVID policy late in the year. Germany (30.2 million) and France (29.3 million) reported more cases than in the two previous years combined.
2023 onward: the map fades
WHO ended the global health emergency on 5 May 2023. Reported cases fell to 44 million in 2023, then 3.6 million in 2024 and 1.7 million in 2025. Most of this fall reflects less testing and reporting, not only less infection. Fewer countries report at all: 95 had reported for 2026 by the end of August.
How to read the COVID-19 map
Values are sums of WHO’s reported new cases, grouped by reporting date rather than date of infection. Retrospective corrections are kept, so some months include negative adjustments. A negative total for a whole year is excluded rather than shown as zero. 2026 is a partial year. Reported cases were never a measure of all infections and should not be compared with seroprevalence estimates.
Common questions
Which country reported the most COVID-19 cases?
In WHO data up to August 2026, the United States (103 million reported cases), followed by China (99 million) and India (45 million).
Why are recent COVID-19 numbers so low?
Most countries stopped mass testing and routine reporting after 2022–2023. The low numbers mostly reflect less reporting, not the absence of infection.
Can I see COVID-19 by month?
Yes. Switch the timeline to fine navigation to step through the WHO data month by month.