Tuberculosis killed an estimated 1.13 million people worldwide in 2025, 35% fewer than in 2015—but the reduction target had been due five years earlier, in 2020.

The disease remained the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with 10.6 million people developing TB in 2025, just 75,000 fewer than the year before; cases per 100,000 people fell 1.6% to 129, a 14% decline since 2015.

Deaths fell by half over the decade in Africa and Europe, while India and China each recorded a 35% decline.

The burden is concentrated: 30 high-burden countries accounted for 88% of cases, with India reporting about one quarter, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, China, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Only 8.4 million people—about 79% of those estimated to have developed TB—were newly diagnosed, leaving roughly 2.2 million likely unaware of their infection.

TB spreads through the air when an infected person coughs, sneezes or speaks, and can affect organs beyond the lungs; not every infection becomes active disease, and early treatment can usually cure it.

Prevention and care are complicated by poverty, poor housing, malnutrition, HIV, lengthy treatment, side effects and difficulty taking medication consistently, while drug resistance remains a serious threat.

Malnutrition, HIV, diabetes, smoking and alcohol-use disorders are the five leading risk factors; TB killed 137,000 people living with HIV in 2025.

There was progress in care for drug-resistant TB: 42% of patients had access to a six-month, all-oral regimen in 2025, up from 18% in 2024, replacing treatments that could last up to 24 months and involve injections and toxic side effects.

A phase 3 trial of the M72 vaccine is underway in South Africa, with results expected by 2028; if successful, it could protect adolescents and adults, for whom the century-old BCG vaccine provides little protection, and become the first new TB vaccine since BCG.

Other tools in development include 16 vaccine candidates and a molecular test using tongue swabs, which could make diagnosis easier for people unable to produce sputum.

Funding for TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment in low- and middle-income countries rose to $6.6 billion in 2025 from $6 billion in 2024, but remained far below the WHO’s $22 billion annual target for 2027; international funding fell 14%, while domestic funding increased from $4.9 billion to $5.6 billion.