Research and analysis

Measles: Historic confirmed cases, notifications and deaths

Published 4 September 2025

Applies to England

The structure and content of the measles epidemiology webpages has changed; the old webpages are available to view on the UK Government Web Archive.

Confirmed cases of measles by age group: 2012 to 2024

Age	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Total
< 1	250	165	19	8	30	43	105	12	1	0	12	48	333	1,026
1 - 4	323	254	29	16	51	58	160	206	14	1	10	100	710	1,932
5 - 9	339	204	5	8	43	33	94	91	7	0	11	74	655	1,564
10 - 14	397	330	4	20	68	26	77	91	6	0	3	49	287	1,358
15 - 19	231	181	4	13	106	23	126	82	8	0	2	20	172	968
20 - 24	131	95	10	10	74	22	95	71	7	1	5	13	155	689
25 - 29	76	48	8	7	56	19	92	59	8	0	2	22	160	557
30 - 34	58	35	8	1	29	11	70	61	5	0	4	9	161	452
35+	115	102	15	8	69	30	149	124	23	0	4	33	278	950
Total	1,920	1,414	102	91	526	265	968	797	79	2	53	368	2,911

Confirmed cases of measles by region: 2012 to 2024

Region	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Total
North East	50	379	6	2	1	2	14	3	0	0	0	3	79	539
North West	881	381	7	2	3	42	33	51	9	0	3	9	100	1,521
Yorkshire and the Humber	152	88	2	2	12	40	84	28	0	0	0	31	167	606
East Midlands	51	49	4	0	4	1	13	48	4	0	1	9	213	397
West Midlands	122	64	7	2	8	38	81	14	1	0	2	159	561	1,059
East of England	49	76	10	1	24	14	33	102	5	0	2	9	253	578
London	135	189	51	65	318	68	389	461	39	2	36	124	1,305	3,182
South East	383	26	12	4	60	23	181	68	19	0	7	14	121	918
South West	97	162	3	13	96	37	140	22	2	0	2	10	112	696
Total	1,920	1,414	102	91	526	265	968	797	79	2	53	368	2,911

To view data from 1996 to 2011, visit the National Archives website.

England and Wales vaccine coverage data

Notifications of measles by age group: 2012 to 2024

Age group	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023]	2024	Total
< 1	784	968	403	256	317	308	416	441	139	158	259	463	2,141	7,053
1 - 4	1,588	1,857	792	551	593	673	1,011	928	282	399	643	1,353	5,674	16,344
5 - 9	531	684	206	125	161	232	325	267	59	66	187	516	3,855	7,214
10 - 14	359	392	61	47	98	75	102	153	31	33	69	206	1,221	2,847
15+	556	729	161	119	329	201	472	426	119	99	186	444	2,928	6,769
Unknown	10	10	4	1	1	1	2	1	0	1	1	0	1	33
Total	3,828	4,640	1,627	1,099	1,499	1,490	2,328	2,216	630	756	1,345	2,982	15,820

Note: Figures for 2021 to 2024 are a provisional estimation due to an ongoing data collection issue for the notifications of infectious diseases

Source: Notifications of Infectious Diseases

To view data from 1989 to 2011, visit the National Archives website.

Notifications of measles by region: 2012 to 2024

Region	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021 [note 1]	2022 [note 1]	2023 [note 1]	2024 [note 1]	Total
North East	92	721	110	101	105	108	159	115	36	43	75	100	544	2,309
North West	1,491	1,228	296	197	176	276	345	324	118	134	202	388	2,189	7,364
Yorkshire and the Humber	329	389	160	115	104	250	321	201	60	73	110	290	1,412	3,814
East Midlands	222	343	87	59	81	69	93	260	54	49	95	215	1,400	3,027
West Midlands	212	281	145	89	83	240	293	139	78	78	101	615	3,182	5,536
East of England	231	344	203	103	101	98	150	255	32	65	120	238	1,339	3,279
London	456	612	297	240	539	243	471	627	137	142	313	611	3,686	8,374
South East	696	497	242	139	190	142	282	205	80	109	207	305	1,131	4,225
South West	99	225	87	56	120	64	214	90	35	63	122	220	929	2,324
Unknown	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	8
Total	3,828	4,640	1,627	1,099	1,499	1,490	2,328	2,216	630	756	1,345	2,982	15,820

Note 1: provisional estimation due to an ongoing data collection issue for the notifications of infectious diseases

Source: Notifications of Infectious Diseases

Cases from Port Health Authorities are excluded.

To view data from 1989 to 2011, visit the National Archives website.

Measles notifications and confirmed cases by oral fluid testing: 2013 to 2024 by quarter

Following the Measles-Rubella (MR) school campaign in November 1994, the Public Health England, now UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), predecessor (Public Health Laboratory Service) has offered oral fluid testing to confirm the diagnosis on all notified cases of measles, mumps and rubella. This is part of the enhanced surveillance programme for these vaccine preventable diseases.

The table below shows only the cases confirmed by oral fluid IgM antibody tests or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in each quarter compared to the number of notified cases.

Source: Notifications of Infectious Diseases

To view data from 1995 to 2012, visit the UK Government Web Archive.

Year	Quarter	Notifications	Number tested [note 2]	Tested (%)	Number positive	Tested Positive (%)
2024 [note 1]	4	1011	389	38.5	252	64.8
2024	3	1,871	648	34.6	549	84.7
2024	2	4,724	2,018	42.7	884	43.8
2024	1	7,273	3,312	45.5	608	18.4
2023	4	1,256	625	49.8	118	18.9
2023	3	592	310	52.4	21	6.8
2023	2	686	346	50.4	85	24.6
2023	1	454	222	48.9	31	14.0
2022	4	397	140	35.3	7	5.0
2022	3	305	132	43.3	16	12.1
2022	2	351	188	53.6	23	12.2
2022	1	308	174	56.5	1	0.6
2021	4	224	125	55.8	0	0.0
2021	3	198	128	64.6	0	0.0
2021	2	176	117	66.5	1	0.9
2021	1	98	41	41.8	0	0.0
2020	4	114	79	69.3	0	0.0
2020	3	155	87	56.1	0	0.0
2020	2	114	71	62.3	0	0.0
2020	1	801	517	64.5	71	13.7
2019	4	960	697	72.6	74	10.6
2019	3	1,004	654	65.1	118	18.0
2019	2	1,503	946	62.9	257	27.2
2019	1	1,055	661	62.7	202	30.6
2018	4	846	536	63.4	94	17.5
2018	3	1,016	657	64.7	67	10.2
2018	2	1,763	1161	65.9	359	30.9
2018	1	1,201	750	62.4	247	32.9
2017	4	970	583	60.1	93	16.0
2017	3	437	278	63.6	32	11.5
2017	2	597	352	59.0	32	9.1
2017	1	518	260	50.2	12	4.6
2016	4	504	328	65.1	33	10.1
2016	3	929	484	52.1	155	32.0
2016	2	846	559	66.1	167	29.9
2016	1	556	386	69.4	47	12.2
2015	4	385	275	71.4	18	6.5
2015	3	351	225	64.1	25	11.1
2015	2	477	318	66.7	32	10.1
2015	1	543	394	72.6	26	6.6
2014	4	564	70	12.4	12	17.1
2014	3	489	332	67.9	14	4.2
2014	2	707	518	73.3	27	5.2
2014	1	657	697	106.1	84	12.1
2013	4	716	620	86.6	41	6.6
2013	3	1,108	774	69.9	84	10.9
2013	2	4,037	2,655	65.8	434	16.3
2013	1	2,621	1,373	52.4	402	29.3

Note 1: provisional estimation due to an ongoing data collection issue for the notifications of infectious diseases

Note 2: many suspected measles cases are tested only through local NHS and regional laboratories.

Measles notifications and deaths in England and Wales: 1940 to 2025

Year	Notifications	Total Deaths	Description
1940	409,521	857
1941	409,715	1,145
1942	286,341	458
1943	376,104	773
1944	158,479	243
1945	446,796	729
1946	160,402	204
1947	393,787	644
1948	399,606	327
1949	385,935	307
1950	367,725	221
1951	616,182	317
1952	389,502	141
1953	545,050	242
1954	146,995	45
1955	693,803	174
1956	160,556	28
1957	633,678	94
1958	259,308	49
1959	539,524	98
1960	159,364	31
1961	763,531	152
1962	184,895	39
1963	601,255	127
1964	306,801	73
1965	502,209	115
1966	343,642	80
1967	460,407	99
1968	236,154	51
1969	142,111	36
1970	307,408	42
1971	135,241	28
1972	145,916	29
1973	152,578	33
1974	109,636	20
1975	143,072	16
1976	55,502	14
1977	173,361	23
1978	124,067	20
1979	77,363	17
1980	139,487	26
1981	52,979	15
1982	94,195	13
1983	103,700	16
1984	62,079	10
1985	97,408	11
1986	82,054	10
1987	42,158	6
1988	86,001	16
1989	26,222	3
1990	13,302	1
1991	9,680	1
1992	10,268	2
1993	9,612	4
1994	16,375	0
1995	7,447	1
1996	5,614	0
1997	3,962	3
1998	3,728	3
1999	2,438	3
2000	2,378	1
2001	2,250	1
2002	3,232	1 [note 3]
2003	2,488	0
2004	2,356	1
2005	2,089	0
2006	3,705	1	1 death acute measles, child with an underlying immunological problem
2007	3,670	1	1 adult death late effect of measles
2008	5,088	2	1 death acute measles, child with an underlying immunological problem; 1 adult death late effect of measles
2009	5,191	1	1 child death due to subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE)
2010	2,235	0
2011	2,355	1	1 adult death late effect of measles
2012	4,211	1	1 adult death late effect of measles
2013	6,193	1	1 death acute measles, adult
2014	1,850	0
2015	1,193	0
2016	1,641	1	1 death acute measles, infant
2017	1,693	1	1 adult death late effect of measles
2018	2,557	3	2 child deaths from acute measles, one of whom with an underlying immunological problem and 1 adult death, late effect of measles
2019	806	5	1 child death due to SSPE, 1 adult death due to SSPE, 1 adult death due to acute measles encephalitis and 2 adults deaths late effect of measles
2020	698	1	1 adult death, late effect of measles
2021	360	2	2 adult deaths, late effect of measles
2022	735	1	1 adult death from SSPE
2023	1,619	4	3 adult deaths, late effects of measles. 1 child death from SSPE
2024	11,162 [note 1]	5	3 adult deaths, late effects of measles. 1 adult death from SSPE and 1 acute measles death in a child with an underlying immunological problem
2025	3,268 [note 1] [note 2]	2	1 adult death, late effect of measles. 1 acute measles death in a child with an underlying immunological problem

Note 1: provisional estimation due to an ongoing data collection issue for the notifications of infectious diseases.

Note 2: provisional real-time reporting.

Note 3: known not to be measles infection.

Data source

Office for National Statistics (ONS) death statistics.

Inclusion criteria

Data presented here includes all deaths registered in England and Wales where measles infection was included as either the primary or contributing cause of death on the death certificate.

Interpretation

Measles infection can lead to death after a short acute illness or can lead to complications with long term sequalae, such as subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), that may lead to death several years later and/or may be a contributing factor to an individual’s death alongside other underlying conditions.

From 2000 to date

1. There were 10 deaths in children or adults in England and Wales that could have been prevented by the UK national immunisation programme, that is, the infection was acquired in England or Wales after the introduction of a measles containing vaccine into the UK routine childhood immunisation programme.

2. There were 4 deaths reported that were due to measles infection acquired abroad in non-UK born individuals (that is, could not have been prevented by the UK immunisation programme).

3. There were 12 deaths reported where measles infection was acquired before 1968 when the first measles containing vaccine was introduced.

4. There were 6 reported deaths among individuals born before 1968 whose onset of infection and vaccination status are unknown. It is likely that these infections were acquired either before the introduction of the MMR vaccine or before high coverage could be achieved by the vaccination programme.

5. There were 3 deaths reported where at least one dose of the MMR vaccine was received. However, for 2 individuals it remains uncertain whether the vaccine was administered prior to the acquisition of the disease.