Approximately 1.2 million people worldwide contracted HIV in 2025, according to a new report by the World Health Organization (WHO). While the figure represents a 42% reduction in new infections compared to 2010, the agency warned that the current pace of progress remains insufficient to meet the global target of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030.
The findings were detailed in the WHO’s Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections 2022–2030: 2026 Mid-term Progress Report, which evaluates global health efforts halfway through its eight-year strategic window.
The new cases bring the global total of people living with HIV to 41 million in 2025. Africa remains the epicenter of the epidemic, hosting 64 per cent of all global cases. Demographically, females represent 53 per cent of people living with HIV worldwide, while males account for 47 per cent.
The WHO report highlighted that key populations, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs, transgender individuals, and incarcerated populations, alongside their sexual partners, accounted for nearly half of all new global infections. Outside of sub-Saharan Africa, these groups accounted for roughly 70 per cent of new transmissions, underscoring an urgent need for targeted intervention strategies.
Despite challenges in curbing new transmissions, global mortality rates tied to the virus continue to drop significantly. AIDS-related deaths fell to 570,000 in 2025, a 57 per cent decline from 2010 levels. However, annual deaths must drop further to around 130,000 by 2030 to achieve the target 90 per cent reduction in AIDS-related mortality.
Access to life-saving treatment has also seen historic expansion over the past decade and a half:
-
Treatment Expansion: A record 32 million people were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) by the end of 2025, up quadruply from just 8 million in 2010.
-
Progress Towards 95-95-95 Targets: By late 2025, 88 per cent of people living with HIV knew their status, 89% of those diagnosed were on ART, and 95 per cent of those receiving treatment achieved viral suppression.
Despite these advancements, significant coverage gaps persist. An estimated 9 million people, representing 22 per cent of all individuals living with HIV, remain without access to antiretroviral therapy, exposing them to higher risks of severe illness, death, and secondary transmission.
The health agency voiced sharp concern over recent disruptions in international donor funding, which threaten to reverse hard-won progress.
Following major policy shifts and foreign assistance freezes from key donor nations, including operational suspensions by agencies such as USAID, critical health programs across more than 50 countries have suffered operational setbacks. The WHO noted that these funding reductions have directly impaired HIV prevention programs, community outreach, testing services, laboratory infrastructure, and treatment initiation.
To safeguard existing progress and meet the 2030 target, the WHO emphasised that high-burden nations must aggressively scale up domestic funding for their national HIV responses rather than relying solely on external aid.
