17,070 Tuberculosis Patients Last Year... Concentration Among the Elderly Deepens

Down 4.9% From Previous Year, Marking 14 Consecutive Years of Decline

Still Ranks Second in Incidence Rate Among OECD Countries

The number of tuberculosis patients in South Korea continued to decline last year, marking a downward trend for the 14th consecutive year.

According to the “2025 Tuberculosis Patient Notification Status” announced by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on March 24, the number of tuberculosis patients in the country last year was 17,070, a decrease of 4.9% compared to the previous year. This figure represents a cumulative decline of 66.2% since peaking at 50,491 patients in 2011. Over the past 14 years, the annual average decrease has been 7.5%.

As of 2024, while the number of tuberculosis patients worldwide and among OECD countries decreased by 1%, South Korea saw a 10% decline. However, South Korea still ranks second among 38 OECD member countries in tuberculosis incidence and third in mortality rate.

Trends of Tuberculosis Patients by Age Group for Each Year Last Year. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

In particular, among domestic tuberculosis patients last year, the proportion of elderly people aged 65 and older was high at 62.5%. However, this is attributed to population aging, with the number of people aged 65 or older increasing. The incidence per 100,000 population was 101.5, a 4.1% decrease from 105.8 in the previous year. The number of tuberculosis patients under the age of 65 was 6,401, a 13.6% decrease from the previous year. The incidence per 100,000 population for this group was 15.8.

The number of tuberculosis patients among foreigners in South Korea has been on a downward trend since 2016, when mandatory tuberculosis screening was introduced for long-term visa applicants from high-risk countries. Last year, there were 1,049 foreign tuberculosis patients, a 2.6% decrease from the previous year. However, with the increase in the number of foreign residents, the proportion of foreigners among all domestic tuberculosis patients (6.1%) is rising each year.

Looking at tuberculosis incidence by medical benefit status, medical benefit recipients make up 2.9% (1.56 million) of the total population covered by healthcare, but they accounted for 11.9% (2,010) of all tuberculosis patients. The incidence rate among medical benefit recipients was 128.9 per 100,000 population, 4.5 times higher than that of health insurance subscribers, which stood at 28.9, confirming that the risk of tuberculosis is higher among socioeconomically vulnerable groups.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is pursuing management policies throughout the full tuberculosis cycle under the Third Comprehensive Tuberculosis Management Plan established in 2023. This year, initiatives include: ▲Mobile tuberculosis screening programs ▲Integrated screening for foreign residents ▲The Tuberculosis Safe Belt Project, among others.

Meanwhile, on this day the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency held the 16th Tuberculosis Prevention Day event and presented a total of 79 government awards to individuals and organizations that contributed to national tuberculosis control projects. The Presidential Citation was presented to Professor Mok Jeongha of Pusan National University Hospital and Professor Jang Taewon of Kosin University Gospel Hospital.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.