An estimated 1.1 million people died from tuberculosis worldwide in 2025, despite a 35 per cent decline in deaths from the disease over the past decade, the World Health Organisation has said.
The WHO disclosed this in its 2026 Global Tuberculosis Report, released on Thursday, noting that TB remained “the leading cause of death from a single infectious agent” globally.
According to the report, “an estimated 10.6 million people developed TB, and 1.1 million people died from TB” in 2025, while treatment had saved an estimated 86 million lives since 2000.
The organisation said the decline in deaths meant the world had reached the first mortality milestone of its End TB Strategy, although “five years later than planned”.
It, however, warned that progress in reducing new infections remained slow, with the global TB incidence rate declining by only 14 per cent between 2015 and 2025, against the 50 per cent reduction target set for 2025.
Commenting on the findings, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the continued decline in TB cases and deaths was encouraging, particularly given the funding challenges faced by many countries.
“The continued decline in TB cases and deaths is very encouraging, especially given the challenges many countries have faced from funding cuts,” he said.
“Many governments have dug deeper into their own budgets to protect the gains they have made. And yet, more than one million people still die each year from a disease that is preventable and treatable.
“We urge countries and partners to urgently expand access to TB services, protect essential funding and accelerate the development of new tools to end this epidemic,” Tedros added.
The report further identified major gaps in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease, stating that of the 10.6 million people estimated to have developed TB in 2025, only 8.4 million were diagnosed.
This left “an estimated 2.2 million either undiagnosed or unreported”, while only 59 per cent of newly diagnosed patients were tested using a WHO-recommended rapid diagnostic test.
The organisation said the figure was below its target of ensuring that all newly diagnosed TB patients received rapid diagnostic testing by 2027.
It added that the global burden of the disease remained concentrated in 30 countries, which accounted for 88 per cent of people who developed TB in 2025.
On regional progress, the report said TB incidence fell by 30 per cent in the WHO African Region between 2015 and 2025, while the European Region recorded a 42 per cent decline.
South-East Asia recorded an 18 per cent reduction, while incidence fell by 6.6 per cent in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Western Pacific recorded no net change, while the Americas experienced a 13 per cent increase compared with 2015 levels.
The WHO also raised concerns over drug-resistant TB, saying an estimated 370,000 people developed rifampicin-resistant TB in 2025, but only 42 per cent received treatment.
However, the uptake of its recommended six-month treatment regimen among patients receiving care increased from 18 per cent in 2024 to 42 per cent in 2025.
On funding, the organisation said domestic investment in TB programmes increased by 14 per cent to $5.6bn between 2024 and 2025, partly offsetting a decline in international financing of a similar scale.
It also described investment in TB research as critically insufficient, noting that funding stood at $1.2bn in 2023, less than a quarter of the $5bn annual target required by 2027.
The WHO called on governments and partners to strengthen political commitment, increase sustainable funding, expand access to prevention, rapid diagnosis and effective treatment, and accelerate investment in new vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.