Reports of cases of TB to UK enhanced tuberculosis surveillance systems, England: 2000 to 2024 report
Updated 5 September 2025
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Correction notice
Table 2 was corrected on 5 September 2025 because the labels for some UKHSA regions were incorrectly positioned. The affected labels were: East Midlands, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, South West, South East, and East of England. This has now been corrected.
All other information in the report is correct and remains unchanged.
Main points
In 2024:
- the UK has remained a low tuberculosis (TB) incidence country with a TB notification rate (the number of people notified with TB in a year) of 8.6 per 100,000 population in 2024, below the World Health Organization (WHO) threshold of 10 per 100,000 population
- TB notification rates in the UK increased by 11.4% and the number of notifications increased by 12.6% when compared with 2023
- TB notification rates increased for all UK nations compared with 2023, except Scotland, which had a very large increase in the previous year
- the 3-year average TB notification rate for lower tier local authorities (LTLAs) was highest in Leicester at 42.1. per 100,000 people, followed by Newham in London at 41.4 per 100,000 people (the only other LTLA with a rate above 40 per 100,000 people); 6 LTLAs had notification rates of 30 to 39 per 100,000 people, one in Slough, and 5 in London (Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hounslow and Redbridge)
- multidrug-resistant or rifampicin-resistant TB was detected in 2.1% of people (80 people overall) who were TB-culture positive; similar to 2023 (2.2%) but an increase compared with 2022 (1.5%)
- TB treatment completion in the UK for individuals expected to complete at 12 months was 84.4% in 2024, which is consistent with previous years
TB notification rates in the UK and by country over time, 2000 to 2024
In 2024, the number and rate of TB notifications compared with the previous year continued to increase. Notifications increased by 12.6% and the notification rate was 11.4%, which was similar to the increase in 2023. This year, the TB notification rate was 8.58 per 100,000 individuals. However, TB notifications and rates are still below the peak observed in 2011 (14.1 per 100.000 people) but significantly above the pre-COVID-19 pandemic year of 2019 (Table 1). The recent large increases were preceded by a decrease in the peak pandemic year of 2020 (12.6% decrease in notifications). This decrease during and rebound after the pandemic is observed in many countries, as reported in the WHO Global TB report.
Table 1. Number of TB notifications, rates and annual percentage change, UK, 2000 to 2024
| Year | Number of notifications | Notification rate per 100,000 | Lower CI | Upper CI | Annual change in notification numbers (percentage) | Annual change in rate (percentage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 6,685 | 11.35 | 11.08 | 11.63 | [z] | [z] |
| 2001 | 6,760 | 11.44 | 11.17 | 11.72 | 1.12 | 0.79 |
| 2002 | 7,288 | 12.28 | 12.00 | 12.57 | 7.81 | 7.34 |
| 2003 | 7,218 | 12.10 | 11.82 | 12.38 | -0.96 | -1.47 |
| 2004 | 7,584 | 12.65 | 12.37 | 12.94 | 5.07 | 4.55 |
| 2005 | 8,282 | 13.71 | 13.42 | 14.01 | 9.20 | 8.38 |
| 2006 | 8,307 | 13.66 | 13.37 | 13.96 | 0.30 | -0.36 |
| 2007 | 8,259 | 13.47 | 13.18 | 13.76 | -0.58 | -1.39 |
| 2008 | 8,489 | 13.73 | 13.44 | 14.03 | 2.78 | 1.93 |
| 2009 | 8,869 | 14.24 | 13.95 | 14.54 | 4.48 | 3.71 |
| 2010 | 8,395 | 13.38 | 13.10 | 13.67 | -5.34 | -6.04 |
| 2011 | 8,921 | 14.10 | 13.81 | 14.40 | 6.27 | 5.38 |
| 2012 | 8,715 | 13.68 | 13.40 | 13.97 | -2.31 | -2.98 |
| 2013 | 7,871 | 12.27 | 12.00 | 12.54 | -9.68 | -10.31 |
| 2014 | 7,032 | 10.88 | 10.63 | 11.14 | -10.66 | -11.33 |
| 2015 | 6,228 | 9.57 | 9.34 | 9.81 | -11.43 | -12.04 |
| 2016 | 6,119 | 9.33 | 9.10 | 9.57 | -1.75 | -2.51 |
| 2017 | 5,530 | 8.38 | 8.16 | 8.60 | -9.63 | -10.18 |
| 2018 | 5,028 | 7.58 | 7.37 | 7.79 | -9.08 | -9.55 |
| 2019 | 5,113 | 7.67 | 7.46 | 7.88 | 1.69 | 1.19 |
| 2020 | 4,468 | 6.69 | 6.50 | 6.89 | -12.61 | -12.78 |
| 2021 | 4,762 | 7.11 | 6.91 | 7.31 | 6.58 | 6.28 |
| 2022 | 4,706 | 6.96 | 6.76 | 7.16 | -1.18 | -2.11 |
| 2023 | 5,275 | 7.70 | 7.49 | 7.91 | 12.09 | 10.63 |
| 2024 | 5,941 | 8.58 | 8.36 | 8.80 | 12.63 | 11.43 |
Note 1: CI stands for confidence interval. [z] stands for not applicable: this is used where previous year data is not available.
Supplementary Table 1 of the accompanying data tables shows the number of TB notifications and TB notification rates for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom from 2000 to 2024.
Increases in TB notifications and rates were observed for all UK nations in 2024 compared with 2023. This was except for Scotland, which experienced a very large increase in 2023 (42.2%) compared with 2022. The rates and notifications per country are as follows:
- England (13.6% increase, 5,490 notifications, 9.37 per 100,000, 95% CI 9.13 to 9.62)
- Scotland (5.7% decrease, 267 notifications, 4.86 per 100,000, 95% CI 4.31 to 5.58)
- Wales (15.5% increase, 97 notifications, 3.04 per 100,000, 95% CI 2.49 to 3.71)
- Northern Ireland (13.0% increase, 87 notifications, 4.53 per 100,000, 95% CI 3.67 to 5.59)
Progress against WHO End TB elimination target
The WHO definition of a low TB incidence country is less than 10 notifications of TB per 100,000 population. The WHO End TB goal is a 90% reduction in TB incidence from 2015 to 2035 with a TB elimination target of less than 1 per 100,000. Figure 1 below shows the rate of decline now required to reach these goals compared with that required in 2015 for each country and the UK combined. From 2025 onwards, to achieve a 90% reduction from the 2015 baseline by 2035, the required average annual declines are:
- England: 18.3%
- Northern Ireland: 21.2%
- Scotland: 17.4%
- Wales: 17.3%
- United Kingdom: 18.2%
Figure 1a. Observed rates of decrease in TB notification in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales from 2010 to 2035 compared with required rate of decrease to achieve the WHO End TB goal of a 90% reduction in TB incidence from
2015 to 2035
Figure 1b. Observed rates of decrease in TB notification in the UK from 2010 to 2035 compared with required rate of decrease to achieve the WHO End TB goal of a 90% reduction in TB incidence from 2015 to 2035
Note 2: the WHO defines the pre-elimination threshold as a notification rate of 1 case per 100,000 population.
Note 3: the WHO defines the low-incidence threshold as a notification rate of 10 cases per 100,000 population.
Note 4: to achieve a 90% reduction from the 2015 baseline by 2035, the required average annual decline across all countries is 10.9%.
TB notification rates by geography in England
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) region with the highest TB notification rate was London at 20.6 notifications per 100,000 population. This is approximately 5 times higher than the South West (4.2 per 100,000 population), which had the lowest TB notification rate (Table 2).
Table 2. Number of TB notifications and rates by UKHSA region, England, 2024
| UKHSA Region | Number of notifications | Notification rate per 100,000 | Lower CI | Upper CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 1,876 | 20.6 | 19.7 | 21.6 |
| West Midlands | 709 | 11.5 | 10.7 | 12.4 |
| North West | 658 | 8.5 | 7.9 | 9.2 |
| South East | 587 | 6.3 | 5.8 | 6.8 |
| East of England | 447 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 7.1 |
| East Midlands | 422 | 8.3 | 7.5 | 9.1 |
| Yorkshire and the Humber | 422 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 8.1 |
| South West | 246 | 4.2 | 3.7 | 4.8 |
| North East | 123 | 4.5 | 3.8 | 5.4 |
Note 1: CI stands for confidence interval.
TB notification rates are calculated down to lower tier local authority level by calculating the average TB notification rate over the 3 years up to and including 2024. This is done due to small numbers of annual notifications in some areas (see Supplementary Table 2 of the accompanying data tables). This data demonstrates that there is a large amount of variability within regions and even between lower tier local authorities within the same area. For example, the 3-year average notification rates within the London UKHSA region in 2024 varied from 4.6 in Richmond upon Thames to 31.5 in the adjacent local authority, Hounslow, and 41.4 notifications per 100,000 in Newham. In the East Midlands, Leicester had the highest rate of any local authority at 42.1 notifications per 100,000 people, while 30 of the 34 lower tier local authorities in this region had rates less than 10 per 100,000 people.
Culture confirmation in people notified with pulmonary TB, and all TB notifications by country over time
Supplementary Table 3 of the accompanying data tables shows the proportion of all TB notifications that were confirmed by a culture test. It also specifies the site of disease (pulmonary and non-pulmonary) by country and over time, from 2010 to 2024. Culture confirmation was higher in individuals with pulmonary TB, with 75.2% of cultures across the UK confirmed as TB. This is because pulmonary sites are easier to sample. This was compared with a confirmation rate of 63.0.% for all TB notifications (pulmonary and non-pulmonary) in the UK in 2024.
In 2024, culture confirmation proportions for all TB notifications by country were as follows:
- England: 62.4%
- Wales: 77.3%
- Scotland: 71.5%
- Northern Ireland: 58.6%
Supplementary Table 4 of the accompanying data tables shows the number and proportion of people notified with TB who were culture confirmed as having some form of TB resistance. For instance, some were resistant to isoniazid alone (isoniazid mono-resistance, INH-R) or had multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), defined as resistant to rifampicin and isoniazid or rifampicin-resistant (RR-TB). This was with or without evidence of resistance to isoniazid, which is reported together with MDR-TB. Drug-resistant TB in all countries in the UK remains low, although the rate of MDR or RR-TB in 2024 in England is the highest observed so far. This increase may still be due to fluctuations resulting from the small numbers of notifications each year.
In 2024 MDR or RR-TB rates (proportions) of all culture-confirmed TB notifications by country were as follows:
- England: 2.2%, 75 notifications
- Wales: 1.3%, 1 notification
- Scotland: 0.5%, 1 notification
- Northern Ireland: 5.9%, 3 notifications
- UK: 2.1%, 80 notifications
TB treatment outcomes
Treatment completion at 12 months varied by country for individuals in the UK treated for drug-sensitive TB and notified in 2023, with an expected treatment duration of fewer than 12 months (Table 3). The highest proportion was in England at 84.4%, with the lowest observed in Northern Ireland at 81.9%.
Overall, 4.6% of individuals notified in 2023 and treated for drug-sensitive TB across the UK had died at their last recorded treatment outcome at the time of data extraction, while 3.0% were lost to follow-up (Table 4).
Table 3. TB outcome at 12 months for people notified with drug-sensitive TB in 2023 with expected duration of fewer than 12 months by country, UK, 2024
| Outcome | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | United Kingdom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number who completed | 3,551 | 64 | 214 | 59 | 3,888 |
| Percentage completed | 84.4 | 83.1 | 83.9 | 81.9 | 84.4 |
| Number who died | 158 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 175 |
| Percentage who died | 3.8 | 2.6 | 5.5 | 1.4 | 3.8 |
| Number lost to follow-up | 120 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 126 |
| Percentage lost to follow-up | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 6.9 | 2.7 |
| Number still on treatment | 96 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 110 |
| Percentage still on treatment | 2.3 | 0.0 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 2.4 |
| Number who stopped treatment | 66 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 74 |
| Percentage who stopped treatment | 1.6 | 5.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.6 |
| Number not evaluated | 214 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 236 |
| Percentage not evaluated | 5.1 | 7.8 | 5.1 | 4.2 | 5.1 |
| Total | 4,205 | 77 | 255 | 72 | 4,609 |
Note 5: excludes people with culture-confirmed MDR or RR-TB or those treated with an MDR-TB regimen, and those diagnosed postmortem. Also excludes those with central nervous system (CNS), spinal, miliary or cryptic-disseminated TB. This is because these people are not expected to complete treatment within 12 months.
Note 6: ‘Not evaluated’ includes patients who are missing, unknown and transferred out.
Note 7: treatment completion at 12 months for this cohort by country and over time is available in Supplementary Table 5 of the accompanying data tables and shows that there are no consistent improvements or otherwise over time for any of the countries.
Table 4. Last recorded TB outcome for all people notified in 2023 in the drug-sensitive TB cohort by country, UK, 2023
| Outcome | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | United Kingdom | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number who completed | 4,058 | 71 | 238 | 65 | 4,432 | |
| Percentage completed | 86.5 | 88.8 | 85.9 | 85.5 | 86.5 | |
| Number who died | 215 | 2 | 18 | 1 | 236 | |
| Percentage who died | 4.6 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 4.6 | |
| Number lost to follow-up | 147 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 154 | |
| Percentage lost to follow-up | 3.1 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 6.6 | 3.0 | |
| Number still on treatment | 54 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 58 | |
| Percentage still on treatment | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 1.1 | |
| Number who stopped treatment | 80 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 88 | |
| Percentage who stopped treatment | 1.7 | 5.0 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.7 | |
| Number not evaluated | 136 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 155 | |
| Percentage not evaluated | 2.9 | 0.0 | 5.8 | 3.9 | 3.0 | |
| Total | 4,690 | 80 | 277 | 76 | 5,123 |
Note 5: excludes people with culture-confirmed MDR or RR-TB or those treated with an MDR-TB regimen, and those diagnosed postmortem. Also excludes those with central nervous system (CNS), spinal, miliary or cryptic-disseminated TB. This is because these people are not expected to complete treatment within 12 months.
Note 6: ‘Not evaluated’ includes patients who are missing, unknown and transferred out.
Glossary
Notification number
The count of TB cases reported in a given year (for example, there were 4,800 people notified with TB).
Notification rate
The number of notifications of TB per population size, usually expressed per 100,000 people (for example, there were 8.5 cases per 100,000 population). The rate tells you how common TB is in the population, making it easier to compare across places or over time.
Data sources and methodology
Please refer to this release’s quality and methodology information (QMI) for more information.
Background information
Tuberculosis (TB) is a notifiable disease. Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance (ETS) was introduced across England Wales and Northern Ireland in 2000 and the equivalent scheme in Scotland, Enhanced Surveillance of Mycobacterial Infections (ESMI). From 2021, reporting of TB notifications in all countries except Scotland was through the replacement National TB Surveillance System (NTBS). Data from the surveillance systems is compiled for the purpose of UK reporting.
Only individuals with disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) are reported. Individuals were denotified and removed from the data set if the infective agent was identified as non-MTBC or M. bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) subspecies.
Related statistics
- UKHSA produces detailed public health reports with TB data for England
- Public Health Agency Northern Ireland produces TB data for Northern Ireland
- Public Health Wales produces TB data for Wales
- Health Protection Scotland produces TB data for Scotland
Further information and contact details
Feedback and contact information
Please contact tbunit@ukhsa.gov.uk to provide any feedback or for any queries.
Official statistics
Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of Official Statistics should adhere to.
You are welcome to contact us directly by emailing tbunit@ukhsa.gov.uk with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
UKHSA is committed to ensuring that these statistics comply with the Code of Practice for Statistics. This means users can have confidence in the people who produce UKHSA statistics because our statistics are robust, reliable and accurate. Our statistics are regularly reviewed to ensure they support the needs of society for information.