Status of Notifiable Infectious Diseases Reporting in the Republic of Korea: 2024 Surveillance Report.

OBJECTIVES

To analyze data collected through the National Infectious Disease Surveillance System to provide information on infectious disease outbreaks and deaths for use in infectious disease prevention and management.

METHODS

On June 26, 2025, the status of infectious disease outbreaks and deaths reported in 2024 was analyzed and announced, based on the reporting scope and criteria for each statutory infectious disease.

RESULTS

In 2024, 40 of 66 infectious diseases under surveillance were reported, whereas 26 remained unreported. The number of reported infectious diseases under surveillance is 171,376, a significant decrease from 5,626,627 in 2023. However, excluding coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and syphilis, which had fluctuations in infectious disease levels between 2023 and 2024, the number increased by 54.5% from 109,087 in 2023 to 168,586 in 2024. The major infectious diseases that showed an increase were pertussis, scarlet fever, chickenpox, and Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) infections, and those that decreased were mumps, tuberculosis, hepatitis C, and hepatitis A. Reported imported infectious diseases in 2024 totaled 606, including dengue fever, primary syphilis, malaria, chickenpox, and hepatitis C. The number of deaths reported in 2024 was 1,238, excluding tuberculosis, which is an 18.2% increase compared to that of 2023, when excluding COVID-19 deaths 2023; with the major infectious diseases being CRE, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and pneumococcal infection.

CONCLUSIONS

The statutory infectious disease surveillance system can be used to produce basic data and develop policies for infectious disease prevention and management.