Research and analysis

Confirmed cases of measles in England by month, age, region and upper tier local authority: 2025

Updated 26 February 2026

Applies to England

England measles epidemiology 2025

This report describes measles epidemiology in England from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.

Summary

From 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 there were 959 laboratory-confirmed measles cases reported in England. Measles case numbers started to increase in April 2025 with outbreaks particularly affecting London and the North West. However, after mid-July activity stabilised, and remained relatively stable till the end of the year. Data for 2023 and 2024 and historical data are available. Total number of cases by week of onset from 2024 can be found on the the UKHSA data dashboard.

The number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by month of symptom onset in 2025 were:

• January: 88
• February: 68
• March: 68
• April: 109
• May: 131
• June: 127
• July: 119
• August: 50
• September: 29
• October: 42
• November: 69
• December: 59

The majority (655 of 959, 68%) of these cases were in children aged 10 years and under, and 25% (244 of 959) were in young people and adults aged 15 years and over (Table 1). 51% (493 of 959) of these cases were in London, 14% (134 of 959) in the North West, and 8% (76 of 959) each in the East of England and the West Midlands. 101 upper tier local authorities (UTLAs) reported at least one confirmed case with symptom onset since January 2025, with the highest numbers reported in Hackney (133 of 959, 14%), Birmingham (52 of 959, 5%) and Bristol (47 of 959, 5%) (Table 2).

The vaccination status of all confirmed cases is published quarterly in the related health protection reports.

In 2025, one acute measles-related death occurred in a child who was known to have other medical conditions. Information on historical measles-related deaths is available on the notifications and deaths webpage.

Figure 1. Laboratory-confirmed cases of measles by week of onset of rash or symptoms reported, London and England: 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 [note 1]

Note 1: cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Table 1. Laboratory-confirmed cases of measles by age group and region in England: 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 [note 2]

Age group	East Midlands	East of England	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and Humber	England
less than 1 year	6	7	49	1	24	4	10	9	7	117
1 to 4 years	6	20	166	2	51	5	14	26	18	308
5 to 10 years	0	23	144	0	25	5	6	9	18	230
11 to 14 years	1	6	32	0	7	0	4	7	3	60
15 to 24 years	4	10	37	0	7	9	6	15	4	92
25 to 34 years	3	7	41	0	12	3	11	8	4	89
35 years and older	2	3	24	3	8	8	9	2	4	63
Total	22	76	493	6	134	34	60	76	58	959

Note 2: cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Table 2. Number of laboratory-confirmed measles cases by region and upper tier local authority (UTLA), England: 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 [note 3 and 4]

Upper tier local authority (UTLA)	Region	Total cases
Hackney	London	133
Birmingham	West Midlands	52
Bristol	South West	47
Salford	North West	42
Haringey	London	34
Camden	London	33
Croydon	London	31
Newham	London	30
Leeds	Yorkshire and Humber	29
Islington	London	25
Hertfordshire	East of England	24
Essex	East of England	22
Harrow	London	21
Lewisham	London	21
Bradford	Yorkshire and Humber	19
Knowsley	North West	19
Manchester	North West	19
Waltham Forest	London	18
Barnet	London	15
Enfield	London	14
Southwark	London	12
Wandsworth	London	12
Brent	London	11
Barking and Dagenham	London	10
Cheshire West and Chester	North West	10
Staffordshire	West Midlands	10

Note 3: cases confirmed through either local or reference laboratory testing.

Note 4: case counts have been suppressed to not present any UTLAs with fewer than 10 cases.