The latest figures from the university’s HIV epidemiology group show 80 people were first diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand in 2025.
This continued a downward trend, particularly among men who have sex with men (MSM), after a peak in 2016.
Group leader Dr Sue McAllister said those recording HIV infections were predominantly from Auckland and Northland.
Numbers in Otago and Southland were relatively low, she said.
‘‘We do keep an eye on, particularly sort of around that Queenstown area, where there's perhaps people coming in temporarily working and things like that, but I think it's safe to say that we have very small numbers down here.’’
Excluding the two years during the Covid-19 pandemic which impacted diagnoses, the annual average from 2016 to 2024 was 128 people diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand.
Dr McAllister said the numbers showed we were moving in the right direction and that was a result of the hard work being done across the HIV and wider healthcare sector.
However, infections acquired in New Zealand had only decreased by 45% from the 2010 baseline, set by the National HIV Action Plan.
The target was a 90% reduction by 2030.
‘‘More work needs to be done and transmission prevention efforts remain key to reaching that target.’’
Dr McAllister alerted people to the situation in Fiji, where the number of people diagnosed with newly acquired HIV was skyrocketing.
‘‘I think they're up about 9000 cases last year, so that's about 1% of their population there.
‘‘We are keeping an eye on that as well in New Zealand because of our connection to Fiji, both with tourism and people from Fiji coming here for [seasonal horticulture and viticulture work].
‘‘At the moment, we haven't seen any great increase in the number of people who have acquired HIV in Fiji.
‘‘We think we're separate here in New Zealand, but we're pretty well connected, particularly to the Pacific.’’
In 2018 the government removed unfair restrictions on immigration for people living with HIV.
This, along with the increase in immigration in recent years, has resulted in an increased share of cases where HIV was diagnosed overseas — with the exception of the Covid lockdown years.
There continued to be a large number of people notified with HIV in New Zealand who were first diagnosed with HIV overseas (137), she said.
‘‘These were people of all ethnicities, but mostly from countries in Asia and Africa.
‘‘The majority (86%) had an undetectable viral load, indicating they are on antiretroviral therapy and they can’t pass HIV on sexually.’’
Of the 80 people diagnosed in the country last year, 48 (60%) were MSM, 18 (23%) were heterosexually acquired (10 women and 8 men), and the means of acquisition for the remainder was reported as other or unknown.
Using condoms; uptake and adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP); post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP); regular HIV testing; and testing for other sexually transmitted infections were some ways people could curb transmission, she said.
