# One in four people who die of tuberculosis in the EU lived in Romania

In 2023, 2,819 people died of tuberculosis in the European Union. 705 lived in Romania, home to 4.3% of the EU's population. The share stayed between 25% and 28% every year from 2011 to 2023.

For the same age structure, Romania's tuberculosis death rate is 8.5 times the rest of the EU's, the highest in the Union in 2021–2023. And the dead are younger: 67% of those who die of tuberculosis in Romania are aged 15 to 64, against 41% in the rest of the EU; at 50 to 54 the rate is 16 times higher.

## At what age

In the rest of the EU, the tuberculosis death rate rises with age and is highest after 85. In Romania it climbs fast from 25 to 50–59 and then stays almost as high. Between 25 and 59, someone living in Romania dies of tuberculosis 10 to 16 times as often as someone of the same age elsewhere in the EU.

According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis is preventable and curable, with medicines taken daily for 4–6 months for the usual forms; drug-resistant forms need longer and harder treatment.

## Country by country

The comparison uses age-standardised rates, so that a country with more old people does not look worse than it is. In 2021–2023, Romania has the highest rate in the EU, 3.9 per 100,000; next come Lithuania (3.3) and Latvia (2.4). The rest of the EU, taken together, has a rate of 0.46. In 2011–2017 Lithuania's rate was higher than Romania's.

The gap is wider among men: 9.6 times, against 5.3 times among women. 82% of those who die of tuberculosis in Romania are men.

## Your county

INS publishes tuberculosis deaths by county, by usual residence. Here they are pooled over ten years (2016–2025) and set against population. These are crude rates, not adjusted for residents' ages. National average: 4.2 per 100,000 a year. 15 counties are clearly above it, 19 clearly below; with 42 comparisons, one or two can come out “clear” by chance alone.

## From 1990 to today

In 1990, 1,602 people died of tuberculosis in Romania. After 1990 the number rose, to 2,662 in 1997, then fell. In 2024, 713; in 2025, on provisional data, 525, a fall that may change on revision. But the age-standardised rate stayed 7 to 9 times the rest of the EU's every year from 2011 to 2023.

| County | Deaths | Per 100,000 a year | 95% interval | Against the national average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Galați | 395 | 7.9 | 7.1–8.7 | above |
| Olt | 303 | 7.8 | 6.9–8.7 | above |
| Bacău | 414 | 7.0 | 6.3–7.7 | above |
| Dolj | 431 | 7.0 | 6.3–7.7 | above |
| Teleorman | 228 | 6.9 | 6.0–7.9 | above |
| Neamț | 305 | 6.8 | 6.1–7.6 | above |
| Giurgiu | 180 | 6.8 | 5.8–7.9 | above |
| Caraș-Severin | 168 | 6.4 | 5.5–7.5 | above |
| Mehedinți | 145 | 6.1 | 5.1–7.1 | above |
| Constanța | 381 | 5.7 | 5.1–6.3 | above |
| Brăila | 158 | 5.5 | 4.7–6.5 | above |
| Tulcea | 105 | 5.4 | 4.4–6.6 | above |
| Timiș | 359 | 5.2 | 4.7–5.8 | above |
| Satu Mare | 166 | 5.0 | 4.3–5.8 | above |
| Argeș | 284 | 4.9 | 4.4–5.5 | above |
| Mureș | 247 | 4.7 | 4.1–5.3 | – |
| Vaslui | 167 | 4.5 | 3.8–5.2 | – |
| Suceava | 280 | 4.4 | 3.9–5.0 | – |
| Hunedoara | 154 | 4.1 | 3.5–4.8 | – |
| Maramureș | 188 | 4.1 | 3.5–4.7 | – |
| Arad | 168 | 4.0 | 3.5–4.7 | – |
| Ialomița | 91 | 3.6 | 2.9–4.4 | – |
| Bistrița-Năsăud | 102 | 3.6 | 2.9–4.3 | – |
| Iași | 275 | 3.5 | 3.1–3.9 | below |
| Botoșani | 128 | 3.3 | 2.8–3.9 | below |
| Ilfov | 166 | 3.2 | 2.8–3.8 | below |
| Vrancea | 105 | 3.2 | 2.6–3.9 | below |
| Sălaj | 67 | 3.2 | 2.4–4.0 | below |
| Prahova | 217 | 3.1 | 2.7–3.5 | below |
| Bucharest | 529 | 3.0 | 2.7–3.2 | below |
| Călărași | 83 | 2.9 | 2.3–3.6 | below |
| Covasna | 58 | 2.9 | 2.2–3.7 | below |
| Dâmbovița | 138 | 2.8 | 2.4–3.3 | below |
| Sibiu | 112 | 2.8 | 2.3–3.4 | below |
| Vâlcea | 92 | 2.6 | 2.1–3.2 | below |
| Buzău | 108 | 2.6 | 2.2–3.2 | below |
| Cluj | 184 | 2.6 | 2.3–3.0 | below |
| Bihor | 143 | 2.6 | 2.2–3.0 | below |
| Gorj | 72 | 2.3 | 1.8–2.9 | below |
| Alba | 60 | 1.8 | 1.4–2.4 | below |
| Brașov | 79 | 1.4 | 1.1–1.8 | below |
| Harghita | 21 | 0.7 | 0.4–1.1 | below |

## What these data do not show

- The cause of death is the one on the certificate; the data cannot separate differences in how certificates are filled in from real differences. For example, tuberculosis in people with HIV is recorded as HIV, and late effects of old tuberculosis are used differently from country to country.
- County rates are crude: a county with more people over 45 can have a higher rate for that reason alone.
- Eurostat has cause data up to 2023. For 2024 and 2025 the numbers are from INS; 2025 is provisional.
- The data do not show why people die: late diagnosis, interrupted treatment, drug-resistant forms or other illnesses. That needs the national TB control programme's data, which are not published by county and age.

## How the analysis was done

- Tuberculosis deaths (A15–A19, B90) by country, age and sex: Eurostat, hlth_cd_aro (residents), 2011–2023. Population: Eurostat demo_pjangroup.
- Age-standardised rates use the 2013 European Standard Population, over the age groups available, with 2021–2023 pooled. “Rest of the EU” = the other 26 countries, each with the data it has.
- Thresholds set before calculating: the headline uses the lowest share in 2019–2023 (the same as over the whole of 2011–2023); “at working age” is used only if Romania's share of deaths at ages 15–64 exceeds the rest of the EU's by at least 20 percentage points (it was 26 points).
- Counties: INS TEMPO, deaths of usual residents by cause and county (POP206I) and resident population on 1 January (POP105A), 2016–2025 pooled. The 95% interval is the exact Poisson interval; a county is “clearly above” or “clearly below” only if its interval excludes the national average.
- The series since 1990: INS, deaths by cause (POP206C, by domicile).

## Questions

### Can tuberculosis be cured?

In most cases, yes. According to the World Health Organization, tuberculosis is preventable and curable; for the usual forms the medicines are taken daily for 4–6 months. Drug-resistant forms need longer and harder treatment.

### Why so many men?

The data show only that 82% of those who die are men, against 68% in the rest of the EU. They do not show why.

### Why are county rates “crude”?

INS does not publish tuberculosis deaths by county and age together, and the rates here were not adjusted for residents' ages. A county with more people over 45 can come out higher for that reason alone.

## Sources

- Eurostat, Causes of death by age group and sex, residents (hlth_cd_aro), tuberculosis (A15–A19, B90), 2011–2023; population by age group (demo_pjangroup).
- Romania's National Institute of Statistics, TEMPO: POP206C and POP206I (deaths by cause and county), POP105A (resident population).
- World Health Organization, Tuberculosis fact sheet.
- Eurostat, Revision of the European Standard Population (2013).