STI and screening for chlamydia in England: 2023 report
The UKHSA's annual STI report is now available for 2023. Overall, there is an increase in STI diagnoses, with gonorrhoea and infectious syphilis diagnoses reaching record high levels.
The UK Health Security Agency's (UKHSA) annual STI report is now available for 2023 data. In total there were 401,800 diagnoses of new STIs, an increase of 4.7% since the last report.
Although some of the rise in cases is a result of increased testing, latest data suggests that there are high levels of STI transmission within the population. Here is a breakdown of the latest data from each STI:
- Chlamydia diagnoses remained stable. However, there is a decrease in chlamydia testing through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme.
- Gonorrhoea diagnoses have increased 7.5% from 2022 (79,268 diagnoses) to 2023 (85,223 diagnoses).
- Infectious syphilis diagnoses increased by 9.4% from 2022 (8,693 diagnoses) to 2023 (9,513 diagnoses), with a larger proportional increase in syphilis diagnoses among heterosexual men and women.
- First episode genital warts diagnoses remained stable.
- The impact of STIs remains greatest in young people aged 15 to 24 years; GBMSM; and people of Black Caribbean ethnicity.
Data on STI tests and diagnoses between 2014 and 2023 are available in the Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles, which also includes data at regional and upper and lower tier local authority levels.
UKHSA has produced a STI toolkit, which is there to support stakeholders providing communications on the prevention, testing, and treatment of STIs. The toolkit includes a summary of the latest data, social media assets, a selection of UKHSA blogs and press releases and useful links from various external sources.