Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) Report 2025

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the most serious and growing threats to global health, threatening the effectiveness of the antibiotics, antivirals, and other antimicrobial medicines that underpin modern medicine. Without effective antimicrobials, routine medical procedures become dangerous, common infections become life-threatening, and the gains of the past century in reducing infectious disease mortality are at risk of reversal. This WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) report provides the most comprehensive global assessment of AMR trends to date, drawing on data from 104 countries.

The report finds that approximately one in six bacterial infections globally is now caused by a resistant pathogen a figure that underscores the scale of the challenge. Data on the most clinically significant resistant organisms document rising resistance rates across virtually all WHO regions, with the highest burdens in low- and middle-income countries where antibiotic stewardship programs and infection prevention and control measures are least developed.

Alongside surveillance data on resistance, the report presents findings on antimicrobial use patterns that illuminate the drivers of resistance: widespread overuse and misuse in human health, agriculture, and food production; inadequate access to appropriate antimicrobials in low-income settings; and insufficient infection prevention and control in healthcare facilities. The report highlights the tension between ensuring access to effective antimicrobials for those who need them and stewardship to preserve their effectiveness, a challenge that requires coordinated action across health, agriculture, environment, and trade policy.

The report calls for accelerated implementation of national AMR action plans, stronger antimicrobial stewardship programs, increased investment in AMR surveillance infrastructure in lower-income settings, and greater urgency in the research and development of new antimicrobial agents and alternatives. The data presented make clear that without sustained and coordinated global action, AMR will impose a mounting toll on human health and health system capacity in the decades ahead.