Latest estimates suggest that in 2015 around 174,000 people (95% credible interval 161,000 to 188,000) in the UK were living with chronic HCV infection, and that this figure has fallen by around one third to 118,000 in 2019.
Injecting drug use continues to be the most important risk factor for HCV infection in the UK, with data from UK surveys of people who inject drugs (PWID) suggesting that in 2019, just over half of PWID tested positive for HCV antibody, and just less than one quarter had evidence of current infection.
Public Health England produce this annual report on HCV in the UK.