Mosquitoes Kill More Humans per Year than Snakes, Dogs, Others

The most dangerous animal on earth weighs less than 2.5 milligrams, has never appeared in a horror film, and does not attack. It transmits.

Mosquitoes kill approximately 760,000 people per year through the diseases they carry (malaria, dengue, yellow fever, Zika, and others), making them responsible for more human deaths annually than any other creature on the planet.

The data for this story comes from Our World in Data (OWID). The visual above ranks the world’s deadliest animals by estimated annual human deaths.

Mosquitoes kill approximately 760,000 people annually, more than any other animal on earth.
Sharks, the most culturally feared predator, kill just 6.
Seven of the eleven deadliest animals kill through disease transmission rather than direct attack.

ALSO READ: Species Threatened with Extinction Around the World

Dogs kill approximately 40,000 people per year, almost entirely through rabies transmission rather than bites alone.

In countries with widespread dog vaccination programs and accessible post-exposure treatment, dog-related deaths approach zero.

The 40,000 figure is a story about healthcare access in low-income countries where rabies prophylaxis is unavailable or unaffordable.

Freshwater snails kill 14,000 people annually through schistosomiasis.

It’s a parasitic disease contracted through contact with contaminated water.

Freshwater snails generate almost no cultural fear. Their death toll is larger than most people’s entire mental model of dangerous wildlife.