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Statistics

Statistics Overview

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) operate the largest and most comprehensive HIV/AIDS surveillance system in the country. The CDC works with state and local health departments to collect information on AIDS cases and new HIV infections, as well as on behaviors and characteristics of people at high risk for HIV/AIDS.

Here’s what we know about HIV infections in the U.S. (data are from 2006):

• An estimated 56,300 Americans are newly infected with HIV each year.
• There are approximately 1.2 million Americans who are living with HIV/AIDS.
• The CDC estimates that 21% of HIV-positive people don’t know they are infected—meaning they may be transmitting HIV without knowing it.
• People of color are at disproportionate risk for HIV infection. Nearly half of new infections (49%) were among African Americans, who make up only 13% of the U.S. population. Hispanics accounted for 18% of new HIV infections—and make up only about 15% of the U.S. population.
• More than half of new cases (57%) were among those aged 25–44. Children younger than 13 years accounted for less than 1% of diagnoses.
• Men who have sex with men (MSM) continued to account for the largest number of new HIV diagnoses overall, followed by males and females exposed through high-risk heterosexual contact and injection drug use.
• Males accounted for 73% of all new HIV diagnoses in 2006.
• Among males, most diagnoses were for MSM.
• High-risk heterosexual contact also accounts for a considerable proportion of new HIV diagnoses among men of minority races/ethnicities.
• Among females, most diagnoses were for those exposed through high-risk heterosexual contact.

For detailed information on the latest HIV/AIDS statistics in the United States, see CDC’s Basic Statistics.

For HIV/AIDS Data from the CIA, see Data/CIA.