How Common Is Lyme Disease in the UK? England and Scotland

UKHSA recorded 1,168 laboratory-confirmed acute cases of Lyme disease in England in 2025, about 2 for every 100,000 people, and the true number is higher because cases diagnosed from the rash without a test are not counted^{1, 2}.

There is no UK total in these sources: UKHSA's figures cover England only¹, and Scotland is reported separately by Public Health Scotland⁴. This post covers those two nations and does not cover Wales or Northern Ireland. Lyme disease is the most common locally acquired tick-borne infection in England¹.

How many cases are reported each year

England has recorded between about 860 and 1,200 laboratory-confirmed acute Lyme disease cases a year since 2017². The 2025 total of 1,168 was higher than 2024 (959) and close to 2023 (1,151)¹. As a rate, that is 1.99 cases per 100,000 people in 2025 and 1.64 in 2024. The rates and the yearly range come from UKHSA's Fingertips dashboard, which counts 1,164 cases for 2025 against the report's 1,168, and UKHSA says the dashboard may differ from the report².

A case counts when an antibody blood test points to a recent infection, usually alongside compatible symptoms or the rash. Of the 1,168 cases in 2025, 134 were acute neurological cases¹. From 2025 UKHSA counts one positive test per person in any 12 months, which it says may affect comparisons with earlier years; applying the new rule to earlier years showed consistent trends¹.

Over a longer period, the rate of laboratory-confirmed cases in England and Wales rose from 0.38 per 100,000 in 1997 to 2000 to a peak of 2.77 in 2018, with a slight decrease since, in figures UKHSA last updated in 2022³. That series is a different count from the acute cases above. UKHSA says the rise may reflect a mix of greater awareness, better surveillance and testing, and more encounters with ticks³.

Where Lyme disease is reported

The South East, South West and London report the most cases in England, and the South West has the highest rate^{1, 2}. In 2025 they reported 323, 281 and 244 acute cases, and they have consistently reported the most over the past five years¹. Adjusted for population, the South West had 4.65 cases per 100,000 people in 2025, the South East 3.40 and London 2.56, against 1.99 for England as a whole². The East Midlands and West Midlands had the lowest rates, at 0.63 and 0.65². The counts come from UKHSA's report and the rates from its Fingertips dashboard, which holds slightly different counts for the same regions (328, 274 and 233), so the two will not reconcile exactly.

Some local authorities sit well above their region. The highest rates in 2025 were in Richmond upon Thames (11.2 per 100,000), Dorset (9.5) and Wiltshire (9.4)². Counts for a single local authority are small (22 cases in Richmond upon Thames, 37 in Dorset), so one year's rate can swing. These figures use the person's home address, or the hospital or laboratory that tested them if there is no address, so they show where people live and not where they were bitten².

Only a minority of cases reported overseas travel: 52 of the 1,168 in 2025¹. UKHSA reports all 1,168 as locally acquired, which may include some people who were infected overseas¹.

Scotland

Scotland recorded 506 laboratory reports of Lyme disease in 2023, 321 of them acute⁴. The 506 is all laboratory reports, based on antibody tests, a wider measure than the acute cases counted in England, and Public Health Scotland defines its acute group by its own testing and clinical criteria, so the two nations' numbers are not directly comparable⁴. Reports ran at 168 to 308 a year from 2015 to 2019 and rose to 528 in 2021, 521 in 2022 and 506 in 2023. Public Health Scotland says better detection has contributed and that a true increase may also have played a part⁴.

When cases peak

Acute Lyme disease cases in England peak in the summer months¹. UKHSA's report says cases continue to peak then, matching the spring and summer peak in exposure to ticks, and tick submissions to its surveillance scheme peak in June¹. Cases come later than bites: UKHSA's England and Wales page says most cases probably acquired infection in late spring and early summer, allowing for the delay between a bite, the first symptoms and antibody levels high enough to show on a laboratory test³.

Who gets Lyme disease

Lyme disease cases occur in people of all ages, in about equal numbers of men and women. In 2025, 563 acute cases were in men and 562 in women, with median ages of 48 and 50¹. In UKHSA's 2024 breakdown, 54% of cases were in people aged 35 to 64 and 7% in children under 15⁵.

What the figures do not show

The figures count laboratory-confirmed cases, so they understate the true number of acute cases. A doctor can diagnose the early rash without a test, and NICE guidance does not recommend testing in that case, so those cases do not appear. UKHSA's report says there could be approximately 1,400 additional clinically diagnosed acute cases in England, based on earlier work with 1998 to 2016 data; it gives no time period and says the estimate is being recalculated¹.

The count is of acute cases. A further 727 "longstanding" cases in 2025, which may reflect past exposure or a late presentation, are counted separately and are not in the 1,168¹.

A blood-donor study in England estimated that 0.49% of donors had antibodies to the Lyme bacteria, using 10,000 samples collected in 2021 and 2022, which UKHSA notes is lower than estimates for Scotland and other northern European countries¹.

What to do after a tick bite

Remove the tick as soon as you can with fine-tipped tweezers or a tick-removal tool, and ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have flu-like symptoms or a round or oval rash within 3 months of a tick bite or of visiting an area where infected ticks could be⁶. The NHS page also explains how Lyme disease is diagnosed and treated⁶.

If you would like a private consultation, our Lyme disease service in London begins with an assessment by our medical doctor, who reviews your symptoms and medical history.

Common questions

How many people in the UK get Lyme disease each year?

There is no single UK figure, because England and Scotland count cases differently: England recorded 1,168 laboratory-confirmed acute cases in 2025 and Scotland 506 laboratory reports of all types in 2023^{1, 4}. Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered here, and laboratory counts leave out cases diagnosed from the rash without a test¹.

Is Lyme disease becoming more common?

In England the yearly count has gone up and down since 2017 without a steady climb². Over the longer term, the England and Wales rate rose from 0.38 per 100,000 in 1997 to 2000 to 2.77 in 2018, with a slight decrease since³.

Is Lyme disease only caught in the countryside?

No: ticks are found all over the UK, and they live in woods and long grass and sometimes in urban parks and gardens⁶. The NHS names grassy and wooded areas in southern England and the Scottish Highlands among the high-risk places⁶.