New diagnoses of sexually transmitted diseases in England increased between 2022 and 2023, according to the latest official figures.

Data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) revealed there were 401,800 new diagnoses last year compared with 383,789 in 2022 which was a 4.7 per cent increase.

Diagnoses of chlamydia across all ages rose slightly from 194,244 diagnoses in 2022 to 194,970 in 2023 while gonorrhoea diagnoses rose from 79,268 in 2022 to 85,223 in 2023.

Infectious syphilis diagnoses increased from 8,693 in 2022 to 9,513 last year. The proportional increase in syphilis diagnoses was higher among heterosexual men and women – going from 1,608 in 2022 to 1,958 in 2023 – than gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men. That group saw diagnoses rise from 6,081 in 2022 to 6,527 in 2023.

The UKHSA also said first episode genital warts diagnoses among all age groups “remained stable,” going from 26,068 in 2022 to 26,133 last year. In the “largely vaccinated age group of 15 to 17-year-olds,” it added, diagnoses “remained low” at 107 in 2023 compared with 104 in 2022.

The UKHSA said “the impact of STIs remains greatest” in people aged 15 to 24, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men and “some minority ethnic groups.”