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

Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49) in Zimbabwe was 11.90 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 30 years was 24.70 in 1997, while its lowest value was 11.90 in 2020.

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 14.50
1991 17.50
1992 20.10
1993 22.10
1994 23.50
1995 24.40
1996 24.70
1997 24.70
1998 24.30
1999 23.60
2000 22.80
2001 21.90
2002 20.90
2003 19.90
2004 18.90
2005 18.00
2006 17.10
2007 16.50
2008 15.90
2009 15.50
2010 15.20
2011 15.00
2012 14.80
2013 14.50
2014 14.30
2015 14.00
2016 13.60
2017 13.20
2018 12.80
2019 12.40
2020 11.90

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