The burden of diagnosed chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is expected to increase at an annual growth rate (AGR) of 0.20% from an estimated 17.8 million cases in 2019 to 18.1 million in 2029 in the nine major markets (9MM*), according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) – Epidemiology Forecast to 2029’, reveals that the increase is attributed to the underlying demographic changes in the respective markets.

In the 9MM, China accounts for approximately 90% of all diagnosed prevalent cases due to its large population and high prevalence of CHB. In the five European markets (5EU), Italy accounts for the highest number of diagnosed prevalent cases of CHB with approximately 209,000 cases and 33% of all 5EU diagnosed prevalent cases of CHB.

Ana Fernandez Menjivar, Senior Epidemiologist at GlobalData, comments: “In France and Germany, the sex distribution of diagnosed prevalent cases of CHB was skewed towards men, where at least 70% of the cases are in men. Diagnosed prevalence in both markets was approximately five times higher in men than in women. Data from Germany found that this difference was not statistically significant; however, in France, this skew may reflect a difference in exposure to risk factors. For example, men may be more likely to be injectable drug users, have more sexual partners, or less likely to be vaccinated against hepatitis B than women.

“In the 9MM, the continued level of prevalence rate of CHB, despite a safe and effective vaccine, is primarily due to the lifetime nature of the condition and a large proportion of cases in the 9MM occurring in migrants from high-risk countries who may have missed the childhood vaccination program.”

*9MM: The US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Japan, Brazil, and China