Global Trends in the HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Overview
- Today, 40.3 million people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS. Of these, 38.0 million are adults and 2.3 million are children under 15.
- An estimated 4.9 million people acquired the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2005, including 4.2 million adults and 700,000 children under 15.
- During 2005, AIDS caused the deaths of an estimated 3.1 million people, including 2.6 million adults and 570,000 children under 15.
HIV Prevalence & Incidence by Region
| Region |
Total no. (%) Living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2005 |
Newly Infected in 2005 |
Adult Prevalence Rate |
| Global Total |
40.3 million (100%) |
4.9 million |
1.1% |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
25.8 million (64%) |
3.2 million |
7.2% |
| Asia |
8.3 million (21%) |
1.1 million |
0.4% |
| Latin America |
1.8 million (4%) |
200,000 |
0.6% |
| Eastern Europe/Central Asia |
1.6 million (4%) |
270,000 |
0.9% |
| North America & West/Central Europe |
1.9 million (5%) |
65,000 |
0.5% |
| North Africa/Middle East |
510,000 (1%) |
67,000 |
0.2% |
| Caribbean |
300,000 (1%) |
30,000 |
1.6% |
| Oceania |
74,000 (<1%) |
8,200 |
0.5% |
HIV Prevalence Among Adults: Selected Regions, December, 2005
- Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 64% (25.8 million) of people living with HIV/AIDS but represents just over 10% of the world's population.
- In Asia and the Pacific, 8.3 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS. There are increasing concerns about the spread of the epidemic in this region, particularly in China and India, the two most populous nations in the world. India already has the second highest number of people estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in the world (5.1 million).
- Eastern Europe and Central Asia continue to have one of the world's fastest-growing HIV/AIDS epidemics, which is concentrated among young people. In 2005, there were an estimated 270,000 new infections, bringing to 1.6 million the number of people living with the disease in this region.
- Over 2 million people are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean combined, 230,000 of whom were newly infected with HIV in 2005. The HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate in the Caribbean (1.6%) is second only to sub-Saharan Africa.
- Women comprise an increasing proportion of adults living with HIV/AIDS. In 2005, 17.5 million women were living with HIV, an increase of 1 million since 2003. This trend is occurring in most regions of the world, and is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source for global data: AIDS Epidemic Update, December, 2005, Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS).
Page last updated: 9/17/2007