Arab World - Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49)

Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49) in Arab World was 0.115 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 30 years was 0.130 in 2002, while its lowest value was 0.100 in 1990.

Definition: Prevalence of HIV refers to the percentage of people ages 15-49 who are infected with HIV.

Source: UNAIDS estimates.

See also:

Year Value
1990 0.100
1991 0.100
1992 0.102
1993 0.102
1994 0.104
1995 0.105
1996 0.107
1997 0.112
1998 0.124
1999 0.125
2000 0.127
2001 0.127
2002 0.130
2003 0.129
2004 0.129
2005 0.128
2006 0.127
2007 0.127
2008 0.123
2009 0.122
2010 0.121
2011 0.121
2012 0.121
2013 0.120
2014 0.116
2015 0.116
2016 0.116
2017 0.115
2018 0.115
2019 0.115
2020 0.115

Limitations and Exceptions: The limited availability of data on health status is a major constraint in assessing the health situation in developing countries. Surveillance data are lacking for many major public health concerns. Estimates of prevalence and incidence are available for some diseases but are often unreliable and incomplete. National health authorities differ widely in capacity and willingness to collect or report information.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: HIV prevalence rates reflect the rate of HIV infection in each country's population. Low national prevalence rates can be misleading, however. They often disguise epidemics that are initially concentrated in certain localities or population groups and threaten to spill over into the wider population. In many developing countries most new infections occur in young adults, with young women especially vulnerable. Data on HIV are from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Changes in procedures and assumptions for estimating the data and better coordination with countries have resulted in improved estimates of HIV and AIDS. The models, which are routinely updated, track the course of HIV epidemics and their impact, making full use of information in HIV prevalence trends from surveillance data as well as survey data. The models take into account reduced infectivity among people receiving antiretroviral therapy (which is having a larger impact on HIV prevalence and allowing HIV-positive people to live longer) and allow for changes in urbanization over time in generalized epidemics. The estimates include plausibility bounds, which reflect the certainty associated with each of the estimates.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Risk factors