WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025: Where are we now and what needs to change?
Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the most urgent global health challenges. Despite being both preventable and curable, it still claims millions of lives every year and is the world's leading infectious disease killer. To help change this, the World Health Organization (WHO) set ambitious targets for 2030: to reduce TB incidence by 80% and deaths by 90%.
The WHO Global Tuberculosis Report 2025 provides the latest update on our progress in the fight against TB. To help raise awareness, we're sharing our main takeaways from the report, including key statistics, progress towards 2030 targets, the remaining challenges, and the critical role of improved diagnostic testing.
Global incidence and deaths are beginning to fall again.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people were unable to access testing and treatment, and TB cases rose for three consecutive years from 2021 to 2023. But in 2024, that trend finally reversed – an estimated 10.7 million people developed TB, which is down slightly from 10.8 million in 2023. Also, 1.23 million deaths were recorded, compared with 1.27 million in 2023. However, global incidence is still above pre-pandemic levels (10.3 million in 2020), and we have a long way to go to reach global 2030 goals.
Different regions show very different patterns of progress.
TB remains a disease of unequal burden. South-East Asia, the Western Pacific and Africa account for 86% of cases. Eight countries are responsible for roughly two-thirds of TB cases, with India accounting for 25%. These differences reflect persistent inequalities, such as overcrowded housing, undernutrition, and limited access to care, alongside risk factors such as HIV, diabetes, smoking, and alcohol use. In many high-burden countries, there is limited financial support, which makes it harder to afford care.
However, there are success stories. The WHO African Region has achieved one of the largest drops worldwide, with a 28% reduction in TB incidence and 46% reduction in deaths since 2015.
In contrast, TB cases in the Americas have risen for four years in a row, as gaps in healthcare access and delayed diagnosis continue to drive transmission.
Financial barriers keep many from accessing care.
Even where TB care is free, the hidden costs of illness can be devastating, especially in low-income settings. Transport to clinics, childcare during appointments, and lost income due to sickness mean roughly half of affected households face catastrophic costs – when TB-related expenses exceed 20% of annual income. For families facing drug-resistant TB, the situation is even more severe, with an estimated 82% of households experiencing catastrophic costs.
This reality traps families in a vicious cycle where poverty fuels TB, and TB plunges families deeper into poverty. These pressures are greatest where social protection is limited. In many high-burden countries, less than half of people have access to even one support benefit, such as sick pay or transportation subsidies, and this can drop to around 10% in low-income settings. This often forces families to choose between seeking care and earning a living. And when people delay diagnosis or stop treatment because they can't afford it, TB continues to spread.
Progress is happening, but the world remains far off track.
The latest data show that while many countries are making progress, the global trajectory is still not fast enough to control TB as planned. Compared with 2015, TB incidence has fallen by only 12% and TB deaths by 29%. These improvements are welcome, but they fall far short of the 2025 targets of a 50% reduction in incidence and a 75% reduction in deaths, and even further from the 2030 targets.
Millions are still missed by diagnosis and treatment.
Although diagnostic rates are improving, many cases still go undetected. In 2024, just 8.3 million cases were reported to the WHO, roughly 78% of the estimated total, leaving over 2 million people undiagnosed or untreated.
Major gaps also persist in treatment for drug-resistant TB. Only 42% of people estimated to have rifampicin-resistant TB began appropriate treatment in 2024, leaving many without the care needed to recover and prevent further spread.
Better TB detection is key.
One of the most important steps in controlling TB is finding and treating the people who go undiagnosed. Much of this hidden burden comes from tuberculosis infection (LTBI), where the infection remains dormant without causing symptoms.
It is estimated that around a quarter of the world's population is infected with LTBI.2 For most, the infection will remain inactive. But for ~5%, especially people with weakened immune systems, LTBI can progress to active TB.3 Once active and symptomatic, TB becomes contagious and can spread to up to 15 people in a year through close contact.
To break the cycle of transmission, LTBI must be found and treated early, especially in people at higher risk, such as those who are immunosuppressed. Accurate diagnostic tools like Revvity's Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA), the T-SPOT™.TB test, are invaluable in identifying potential LTBIs.
The T-SPOT.TB test measures how a person's T cells respond to Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigens using a simple blood sample. With high sensitivity and specificity4, and low rates of indeterminate results5, the T-SPOT.TB test helps identify infection earlier. This means preventive treatment can begin sooner, which helps reduce transmission and drives down TB rates.
The path forward to end TB.
While it's encouraging to see some positive progress in the latest WHO report, the current pace still falls short of what is needed to reach the 2030 goals. Better diagnostics, stronger prevention, and global collaboration are urgently needed to accelerate progress.
A critical part of this effort is tackling latent TB infection. By accurately identifying hidden infections, particularly in high-risk groups, tools like the T-SPOT.TB test are already helping close diagnostic gaps and enable earlier preventive treatment.
At Revvity, we are committed to advancing innovative diagnostics and supporting global efforts to eliminate TB. With sustained action and the right tools in place, we can move closer to a future where TB is no longer a major cause of preventable death.
References
- World Health Organization. Global Tuberculosis Report 2025. Geneva: WHO; 2025. Available from: https://www.who.int/teams/global-programme-on-tuberculosis-and-lung-health/tb-reports/global-tuberculosis-report-2025
- Ding, C. et al. Prevalence trends of latent tuberculosis infection at the global, regional, and country levels from 1990–2019. International Journal of Infectious Diseases 122, 46–62 (2022).
- Kiazyk, S. & Ball, T. B. Latent tuberculosis infection: An overview. Canada Communicable Disease Report 43, 62 (2017).
- Oxford Immunotec T-SPOT.TB Package Insert PI-TB-IVD-UK-v7. Abingdon, UK. September 2024
- Rego K, et al. Utility of the T-SPOT®.TB test's borderline category to increase test resolution for results around the cut-off point. Tuberculosis. 2018;108:178
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