Statistics Overview

• Diagnosis of HIV infection: The term refers to persons diagnosed with HIV infection, regardless of the stage of disease at diagnosis (i.e., HIV infection Stage 0,1, 2, 3 [AIDS], or unknown), from 50 states, the District of Columbia, and 6 U.S. dependent areas.
• HIV infection, stage 3 (AIDS): The term refers specifically to persons with diagnosed HIV whose infection was classified as stage 3 (AIDS) during a given year (for diagnoses) or whose infection has ever been classified as stage 3 (AIDS) (for prevalence and deaths).
• 6 U.S. dependent areas included in the data: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, the Republic of Palau, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
• Transmission category: The term for summarizing the multiple risk factors that a person may have had by selecting the one most likely to have resulted in HIV transmission. For surveillance purposes, persons with more than one reported risk factor for HIV infection are classified in the transmission category listed first in a hierarchy of transmission categories, and therefore counted only once. The exception is men who had sexual contact with other men and injected drugs; this group makes up a separate transmission category.
• HIV prevalence: The number of persons living with HIV at a given time regardless of the time of infection, whether the person has received a diagnosis (aware of infection), or the stage of HIV disease.
• HIV incidence: The estimated number of persons newly infected with HIV during a specified time period (for example, a year).

For more definitions and details about how HIV infection and AIDS data are tabulated, read the “Technical Notes” from the HIV Surveillance Report: Diagnoses of HIV Infection in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2015.

For additional details on HIV disease surveillance, view the Kaiser Family Foundation tutorial: Understanding HIV/AIDS Surveillance Data in the United States.

Prevalence is the number of people living with HIV infection at a given time, such as at the end of a given year.

At the end of 2014, an estimated 1.1 million persons aged 13 and older were living with HIV infection in the United States, including an estimated 166,000 (15%) persons whose infections had not been diagnosed.^a

^aCDC. Singh S, Song R, Johnson AS, McCray E, Hall HI. HIV incidence, prevalence, and undiagnosed infections in men who have sex with men. Presented at Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections; February 14, 2017; Seattle, WA.

Incidence is the number of new HIV infections that occur during a given time period. In 2014, the estimated number of new HIV infections in the United States was 37,600. Estimated annual HIV infections in the United States declined 18% from 2008 to 2014.

In 2015, the number of new HIV diagnoses in the United States was 39,513. There were 31,991 diagnoses among adult and adolescent males (13 years or older), 7,402 among adult and adolescent females, and 120 among children younger than 13 years.

In 2015, the number of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States, by age at diagnosis, was as follows:

CDC tracks diagnoses of HIV infection among seven racial and ethnic groups: American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, white, and multiple races.

In 2015, the number of diagnoses of HIV infection in the United States was as follows:

^aHispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

For more details on HIV infection and race/ethnicity, see CDC’s Populations and Surveillance fact sheets.

CDC classifies HIV diagnoses into six transmission categories to which transmission may be attributed: male-to-male sexual contact, injection drug use, male-to-male sexual contact and injection drug use, heterosexual contact, mother-to-child (perinatal) transmission, and other (includes blood transfusions and unknown cause).

Following is the distribution of the number of diagnoses of HIV infection in 2015 among adults and adolescents in the United States, by transmission category. A breakdown by sex is provided, where appropriate.

^aHeterosexual contact with a person known to have, or to be at high risk for, HIV infection.
^bIncludes hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal exposure, and risk factor not reported or not identified.

Following is the distribution of the number of diagnoses of HIV infection in 2015 among children younger than 13 years at the time of diagnosis in the United States, by transmission category.

^aIncludes hemophilia, blood transfusion, and risk factor not reported or not identified.

Following is the distribution of the estimated number of new HIV infections in 2014 among adults and adolescents in the United States, by transmission category.

^a Heterosexual contact with a person known to have, or to be at high risk for, HIV infection

These are the 10 states or dependent areas reporting the highest number of HIV diagnoses in 2015:

At the end of 2014, there were 955,081 persons living with diagnosed HIV infection in the United States.

Data include persons with a diagnosis of HIV infection regardless of the stage of disease at diagnosis. 

Because of delays in reporting of deaths, death and prevalence data are only available through the end of 2014. The exclusion of data from the most recent year allows at least 18 months for deaths to be reported and for these deaths to be factored into calculations of prevalence. Data have been statistically adjusted to account for missing transmission category.

The number of persons in the United States whose diagnosed HIV infection was classified as stage 3 (AIDS) in 2015 was 18,303. Of these, 13,815 stage 3 (AIDS) classifications were among adult and adolescent males, 4,459 were among adult and adolescent females, and 29 were among children younger than 13.

The cumulative number of persons in the United States with diagnosed HIV infection ever classified as stage 3 (AIDS) at year-end 2015 was 1,216,917.

In 2015, the number of stage 3 (AIDS) classifications in the United States, by age at time of classification, was as follows:

CDC tracks AIDS information on seven racial and ethnic groups: American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/other Pacific Islander, white, and multiple races.

In 2015, the number of persons in the United States with diagnosed HIV infection classified as stage 3 (AIDS), by race/ethnicity, was as follows:

^aFrom the beginning of the epidemic through 2015.
^bIncludes Asian/Pacific Islander legacy cases.
^cHispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

For more details on AIDS and race/ethnicity, see CDC’s fact sheets.

CDC classifies HIV and stage 3 (AIDS) data into six transmission categories, to which infection may be attributed: male-to-male sexual contact, injection drug use, male-to-male sexual contact and injection drug use, heterosexual contact, mother-to-child (perinatal) transmission, and other (includes blood transfusions and unknown cause).

Following is the distribution of the number of persons in the United States with diagnosed HIV whose infection was classified as stage 3 (AIDS) in 2015, by transmission category. A breakdown by sex is provided where appropriate.

^aHeterosexual contact with a person known to have, or to be at high risk for, HIV infection.
^bIncludes hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal exposure, and risk factor not reported or not identified.

^aFrom the beginning of the epidemic through 2015.
^bHeterosexual contact with a person known to have, or to be at high risk for, HIV infection.
^cIncludes hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal exposure, and risk factor not reported or not identified.

At the end of 2014, 521,002 persons in the United States were living with diagnosed HIV infection ever classified as stage 3 (AIDS). 

Because of delays in reporting of deaths, prevalence data are only available through the end of 2014. The exclusion of data from the most recent year allows at least 18 months for deaths to be reported. Data have been statistically adjusted to account for missing transmission category.

In 2014, the number of deaths of persons with diagnosed HIV infection ever classified as stage 3 (AIDS) in the United States was 12,333.

The cumulative estimated number of deaths of persons with diagnosed HIV infection ever classified as stage 3 (AIDS) in the United States, through 2014, was 678,509.

Deaths of persons with diagnosed HIV infection ever classified as stage 3 (AIDS) may be due to any cause.

Because of delays in reporting of deaths, data are only available through the end of 2014. The exclusion of data from the most recent year allows at least 18 months for deaths of persons with an AIDS diagnosis to be reported. Data have been statistically adjusted to account for missing transmission category.

• NCHHSTP AtlasPlus
• NCHHSTP State Profiles
• Statehealthfacts.org Provides state-by-state information about new and cumulative AIDS diagnoses, AIDS diagnosis rates, persons living with an AIDS diagnosis, AIDS deaths, diagnoses of HIV infections, HIV testing statistics and policies, additional AIDS-related state policies, Ryan White funding and other funding for HIV prevention, and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, including budget, client, and expenditure data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

HIV disease continues to be a serious health issue for parts of the world. Worldwide, there were about 1.8 million new cases of HIV in 2016. About 36.7 million people are living with HIV around the world. An estimated 1 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2016. An estimated 35 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic. Sub-Saharan Africa, which bears the heaviest burden of HIV and AIDS worldwide, accounts for 64% of all new HIV infections. Other regions significantly affected by HIV and AIDS include Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. CDC’s Global HIV website explains what CDC is doing in countries where HIV and AIDS have had great impact.

Other resources for international HIV and AIDS statistics:

• For information on international HIV infection and AIDS statistics, visit the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS.
• For current statistics on the number of reported AIDS cases in North, Central, and South America, please contact the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization at 525 23rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037; telephone: 202-974-3000.
• Other international websites with information on HIV and AIDS are the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).