Almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of people newly diagnosed with HIV last year were born outside of Ireland, according to a report by the national health surveillance authority.
There were 239 people who received a first-time HIV diagnosis in 2024, a rate of 4.6 per 100,000 of the population. This is similar to pre-pandemic levels between 2013 and 2019.
There was a significant drop in HIV diagnoses in 2020 and 2021, with 123 and 126 noted in these respective years. The figure rose to 174 in 2022 and 182 in 2023.
Men made up two-thirds (67 per cent) of people diagnosed with HIV last year, the report by the Health Protection and Surveillance Centre (HPSC) says. Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men are a “key population” affected by the disease, with a new diagnosis rate of 84.2 per 100,000.
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Among men, rates were highest in those aged 30 to 34 years old.
The rate in heterosexual women was 3.3 per 100,000 and heterosexual men was 2.7 per 100,000. The female cohort most affected was women aged 25 to 29.
The report notes rates among women have increased compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Of the people diagnosed for the first time last year, 41 per cent were diagnosed with late-stage infection and 22 per cent had been recently infected. The largest number of late-stage infections were seen in men aged 50 years and older.
The HPSC says diagnoses in Irish-born people peaked in 2015, declined in subsequent years, and has been “relatively stable” since 2020.
Of people affected born outside Ireland, 39 per cent were noted as likely having acquired HIV outside the State, while 30 per cent likely acquired it here. The country of infection was unknown for 31 per cent of this cohort.
HIV was diagnosed in a total of 989 people last year, including 577 who were known to be positive and 173 people whose HIV status had been unknown.
The report points to HIV prevention medications PrEP and PEP, as well as condoms, as ways to stop transmission of the disease. Testing is available through a variety of services, while HIV treatment is free in Ireland.
Stephen O’Hare, Executive Director at HIV Ireland said the increasing number of new diagnoses is a “concern, but not entirely unexpected given the impact of the pandemic on testing in Ireland”.
That women account for a third of new cases is “something to keep an eye on”, he added.
With people seeking refuge from countries that have higher prevalences of HIV, he said, it is “not entirely unexpected to see new diagnoses among communities coming to Ireland”.
