Journal of Infection | Trends and patterns of human papillomavirus infection among 33.7 million women in mainland China from 2015 to 2025 A nationwide observational study

Journal of Infection | Trends and patterns of human papillomavirus infection among 33.7 million women in mainland China from 2015 to 2025: A nationwide observational study

Xi Lia, Yamin Sun, Xinchang Lun, Yaoming Liang, Ronghua Jin, Jue Liu DOI: 10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106732 

Background

To explore the trends and patterns of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in mainland China from 2015 to 2025, and to investigate the distribution of non-infected populations.

Methods

HPV detection data were collected from 27,000 participating hospitals across 341 cities in all 31 provinces, covering 69.2% of hospitals in mainland China. A total of 33,750,381 women who underwent HPV testing between January 2015 and September 2025 were included. The distribution of 17 high-risk genotypes and 10 low-risk genotypes was assessed by year, age group, and region.

Results

The overall prevalence of HPV infection was 21.81%, with high-risk genotypes accounting for 17.02% and low-risk genotypes 4.79%. HPV prevalence generally increased from 7.75% in 2015 to 22.48% in 2025. Participants aged less than 20 years (81.46%) exhibited the highest infection rates, and prevalence was slightly higher in eastern China (22.66%). The most common genotypes were HPV-52 (3.20%), HPV-16 (2.19%), and HPV-53 (1.67%). Additionally, 51.16% of participants had infection with one HPV genotype. The distribution of non-infected populations differed across years, age groups, and regions.

Fig. 1 Prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection from 2015 to 2025. 17 HPV genotypes were classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, and 82) and 10 were classified as low-risk types (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 55, 61, 81, and 83).

Fig. 2 Prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection by age group. 17 HPV genotypes were classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, and 82) and 10 were classified as low-risk types (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 55, 61, 81, and 83).

Fig. 3  Prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection by region/province. 17 HPV genotypes were classified as high-risk types (16, 18, 26, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 53, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, and 82) and 10 were classified as low-risk types (6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 55, 61, 81, and 83).

Fig. 4  Distribution of non-human papillomavirus (HPV) infected populations. Prevalence of non-HPV infection = 1 − prevalence of HPV infection

Conclusion

The prevalence of HPV infection has shown an increasing trend over the past ten years among women in mainland China, with HPV-52, HPV-16, and HPV-53 as the predominant genotypes. These findings highlight the importance of scaling up HPV vaccination nationwide, particularly targeting younger populations and regions in eastern China.

Reference

Li, X., Sun, Y., Lun, X., Liang, Y., Jin, R. and Liu, J. (2026). Trends and patterns of human papillomavirus infection among 33.7 million women in mainland China from 2015 to 2025: A nationwide observational study. Journal of Infection, [online] 92(5), p.106732. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinf.2026.106732.

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