For eighty years, antibiotics have turned lethal infections into a week of pills. But bacteria learn fast — and the head start each new drug gets before resistance appears has shrunk from decades to about a year.
deaths caused directly by drug-resistant bacteria in 2021 — and resistance played a part in 4.71 million.
GRAM / IHME · The Lancet, 2024 · plate schematic, not data
Each row shows when a drug came into use (●) and when resistance to it was first identified (○). Vancomycin got 16 years. The last four got about one.
Each dot = one antibiotic · Source: CDC, Antibiotic Resistance Threats in the United States, 2013
Deaths directly attributable to resistant bacteria have held above a million a year since 1990. Without new action, the GRAM forecast puts them near two million by 2050.
Solid = estimated · dashed = forecast (modeled) · 39 million cumulative deaths forecast for 2025–2050
GRAM / IHME · The Lancet, 2024
WHO's 2025 surveillance report, drawing on data from 104 countries, found that 1 in 6 lab-confirmed bacterial infections in 2023 resisted the antibiotics used to treat them.
Worldwide, across common urinary, gut, bloodstream and gonorrhoea infections, tested against 22 antibiotics.
In WHO's South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, where diagnostic capacity is often thinnest.
of the bug–drug combinations WHO tracks became more resistant between 2018 and 2023, rising 5–15% a year.
WHO, Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report (GLASS), 2025
97 antibacterial agents were in clinical trials in 2023, up from 80 in 2021. Filter for genuinely new approaches against the worst bacteria and only four remain.
WHO, Antibacterial agents in clinical and preclinical development, 2024 (pipeline as of 2023)
Resistance takes lives, and it also takes income, jobs and food. These are the scenarios economists have modeled.
of global GDP lost per year by 2030 in a high-resistance scenario, a shock comparable to the 2008 financial crisis.modeled
more people pushed into extreme poverty by 2050 in that scenario, mostly in low-income countries.modeled
resistant infections a year in the U.S. alone, with 35,000 deaths. That is one death every 15 minutes.
Every unnecessary dose gives resistant bacteria a chance to win. Small habits add up across billions of prescriptions.
Colds, flu and most sore throats are viral. Antibiotics do nothing for them, but they still select for resistance.
Never share, save or self-start leftover pills. Ask your clinician whether a shorter course is right for you.
Vaccines prevent infections that would otherwise need antibiotics. They are a big reason child AMR deaths fell by more than half.
New antibiotics earn little because they are held in reserve. "Pull" incentives, like the UK's subscription model, pay for access instead of volume.
Why it matters: modern medicine assumes antibiotics work. Caesarean sections, chemotherapy, hip replacements and organ transplants all depend on them.
Like this? Get a new data story in your inbox every morning.
One infographic a day — real numbers, real sources. No spam, unsubscribe any time.