Copenhagen/Stockholm, 27 November 2025
Europe is failing to test and treat HIV early, with over half (54%) of all diagnoses in 2024 made too late for optimal treatment. New data released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and WHO/Europe warn that this critical testing failure, combined with a growing number of undiagnosed cases, is severely jeopardizing the 2030 goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat.
According to the annual HIV/AIDS surveillance report, 105 922 HIV diagnoses were made in the WHO European Region in 2024, covering 53 countries in Europe and central Asia. While overall reported numbers show a slight decrease compared to 2023, the available data suggest that testing and diagnosis gaps remain.
The high proportion of late diagnoses means that many people are not accessing life-saving antiretroviral treatment and health care early enough, which increases the risk of developing AIDS, the risk of death and onward HIV transmission.
In the 30 countries of the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA), 24 164 HIV diagnoses were reported, representing a rate of 5.3 per 100 000 people. Key findings from the 2024 data show that 48% of HIV diagnoses in the EU/EEA are late. Sex between men remains the most common mode of transmission in the EU/EEA (48%), but diagnoses attributed to heterosexual transmission are rising, accounting for nearly 46% of the HIV diagnoses reported.
Dr Pamela Rendi-Wagner, ECDC Director, emphasized, “In the EU/EEA, nearly half of all diagnoses are made late. We must urgently innovate our testing strategies, embrace community-based testing and self-testing, and ensure rapid linkage to care. We can only end AIDS if people know their status.”
Across the WHO European Region, 54% of diagnoses were late. This proportion was highest among people infected through heterosexual transmission (especially men) and people who inject drugs. Nearly 1 in 3 HIV diagnoses in 2024 were among people born outside the country where they were diagnosed. In the EU/EEA, migrants accounted for more than half of new diagnoses, highlighting the need for tailored, accessible and culturally competent prevention and testing services.
Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe, noted, “Our data paint a mixed picture. Since 2020, HIV testing across the European Region has rebounded, resulting in a higher volume of reported tests and a corresponding rise in HIV diagnoses in 11 countries in 2024. In 2024 alone, 105 922 people were diagnosed with HIV, with an overall 2.68 million diagnoses reported since the 1980s. However, the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV is growing – a silent crisis that is fuelling transmission.”
Dr Kluge underlined, “We are not doing enough to remove the deadly barriers of stigma and discrimination that prevent people from seeking out a simple test. An early diagnosis is not a privilege but a gateway to a long, healthy life and the key to stopping HIV in its tracks.”
ECDC and WHO/Europe are calling for urgent efforts to routinize, normalize and scale up testing, including through wider access to self-testing and community-based options, which can reach people who do not access facility-based health-care services.
The 2030 goal to end AIDS as a public health threat is within reach, but only if the European Region acts now to eliminate the testing gap.
About the report
The report “HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2025” is a joint publication by ECDC and WHO/Europe based on 2024 data. Late diagnosis is defined as a person having a CD4 cell count below 350 cells/mm³ at the time of diagnosis. This indicates that their immune system is already compromised.