Chlamydia - Annual Epidemiological Report for 2022

Surveillance report

7 Mar 2024

Publication series: Annual Epidemiological Report

Time period covered: This report is based on data for 2022 retrieved from The European Surveillance System (TESSy) on 11 January 2024.

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For 2022, 216 508 confirmed cases of chlamydia infection were reported in 27 EU/EEA countries, with a crude notification rate of 88 cases per 100 000 population.

Executive summary

After reaching a peak in 2019, chlamydia notification rates decreased in 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. New record-high notification rates were then seen in both women and men for 2022.
Notification rates continued to be highest among women aged 20−24 years in 2022; with an 18% increase in the rate for this population group compared to 2021.
Over the five years between 2018 and 2022, the number of chlamydia cases reported as transmission between men who have sex with men (MSM) increased by 72%.
National notification rates for cases of chlamydia infection ranged between 0.1 and 709 cases per 100 000 population. Differences in chlamydia testing policies, case finding strategies and reporting are considered to have a greater influence on reported chlamydia numbers than actual differences in epidemiology.