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The World Health Organization (WHO) released the 2025 Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Report on the 13th and warned that resistance to commonly used antibiotics is widespread worldwide, with the increasing severity of resistance to essential antibiotics posing a growing threat to global health.
The report states that in 2023, one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections causing common infections worldwide were resistant to antibiotic treatment. Between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance increased in over 40% of the monitored pathogen-antibiotic combinations, with an average annual increase of 5% to 15%.
The report collected data from over 100 countries and for the first time published estimated resistance rates for 22 antibiotics used to treat urinary tract and gastrointestinal infections, bloodstream infections, and gonorrhea. The report covered eight common bacterial pathogens, including Acinetobacter baumannii and Escherichia coli, with each pathogen associated with one or more of the aforementioned infections.
The report particularly highlighted that drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria are becoming increasingly dangerous worldwide. Among them, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the primary drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria found in bloodstream infections. These severe bacterial infections often lead to sepsis, organ failure, and death. However, globally, over 40% of E. coli and over 55% of K. pneumoniae have already developed resistance to the first-line treatment—third-generation cephalosporins. In the African region, this proportion even exceeds 70%.
Additionally, the risk of antibiotic resistance varies around the world, with the highest rates observed in the WHO South-East Asia Region and the Eastern Mediterranean Region, where one-third of reported infections show antibiotic resistance. In the African Region, this proportion is also as high as one in five.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “The development of antimicrobial resistance is outpacing the progress of modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide. As countries strengthen their antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems, we must use antibiotics responsibly and ensure everyone has access to the right medicines, quality-assured diagnostic tools, and vaccines.”
