What is the total number of COVID vaccine doses administered globally as of 2023?

1. What the main data say: mid‑year and year‑end totals

A mid‑June 2023 scientific review using WHO data reported 13,397,334,282 doses administered globally as of 12 June 2023, a figure that matches contemporaneous “over 13 billion” summaries in market and public reporting ^{[1] [4]}; subsequently, careful estimates anchored to WHO dashboard reporting put cumulative doses administered through 31 December 2023 at about 13.64–13.69 billion, a year‑end total cited in an economic‑cost analysis that cross‑checks with WHO figures ^[2].

2. Why multiple numbers exist and how to read them

Different counts arise because data come from national reports to WHO/Our World in Data, project deliveries versus administrations, and modeling that adjusts for wastage; for example, the same cost‑study that records ~13.69 billion administered doses also estimates 15.06 billion doses produced and consumed once a 10% wastage allowance is applied, and it notes alignment with the WHO COVID‑19 dashboard’s ~13.64 billion figure ^[2]. Reporting cadence and retrospective corrections matter too: academic papers captured a snapshot in June 2023 (13.397 billion), while aggregated year‑end analyses reconciled later national updates to reach roughly 13.6–13.7 billion ^{[1] [2]}.

3. Outlier claims and why they should be treated with caution

Some sources or interpretations suggest wildly different totals — for instance, the economic analysis’s abstract contains a textual claim of “136.9 billion” cumulative doses that conflicts by an order of magnitude with other reporting and with the same paper’s own internal numbers (the paper elsewhere records ~13.69 billion), indicating a likely typographic or data‑processing error rather than a credible alternate total ^[2]. Independent trackers and major multilateral programs do not support a figure anywhere near 136.9 billion for 2023 administrations; instead, WHO‑based dashboards and peer‑reviewed literature consistently place the cumulative administered doses in the low‑to‑mid‑teens of billions ^{[2] [1]}.

4. What parts of the picture remain uncertain or contested

Limitations persist: not all countries report with the same frequency or completeness, some national dashboards are later revised, and counts mix primary series doses with boosters and single‑dose regimens, complicating comparisons between “people vaccinated” and “doses administered” ^{[5] [6]}. COVAX’s closing report documents nearly 2 billion doses delivered to 146 economies through 31 December 2023, a concrete contribution to the global total but one that sits alongside national procurement and private‑sector distributions that are reported differently across sources ^[3]. Where the available reporting does not resolve discrepancies, public datasets and peer‑reviewed papers favor the WHO‑anchored ~13.6–13.7 billion administered figure as the best estimate for 2023 ^{[2] [1]}.

5. Bottom line and how to use this figure responsibly

The responsible, evidence‑based conclusion is that about 13.4–13.7 billion COVID‑19 vaccine doses had been administered globally by the end of 2023, with the most commonly cited snapshots showing 13,397,334,282 doses by 12 June 2023 and approximately 13.64–13.69 billion by 31 December 2023 according to reconciled WHO‑based reporting and a 2024/2025 cost study that cross‑references the WHO dashboard ^{[1] [2]}. Analysts and policymakers should treat that range as the operational total for 2023 while remaining alert to small upward revisions from late country‑level reporting and to distinctions between doses delivered, doses administered, and doses produced or wasted ^{[2] [3]}.