National quarterly report of tuberculosis in Scotland
Provisional data for quarter 1, 2026
Official statistics in development
- Published
- 12 May 2026 (Latest release)
- Type
- Statistical report
- Author
- Public Health Scotland
About this release
This release by Public Health Scotland (PHS) of quarterly official statistics in development presents provisional data from the national enhanced surveillance system for tuberculosis (TB) notifications in Scotland. This release present provisional quarterly data up to quarter 1 (January to March) of 2026, in addition to the annual TB surveillance report which is published by PHS.
The TB quarterly report is now based on data extracted from the newly adopted UK National Tuberculosis Surveillance System (NTBS) and therefore there are minor changes in historical data. Previously, Scottish TB surveillance data was captured by the Enhanced Surveillance of Mycobacterial Infections (ESMI) system. NTBS is a dynamic data source and statistics released are provisional and subject to validation and future planned revisions. These revisions do not affect the overall interpretation or conclusions to be drawn from the previously published data.
The content of these reports will be reviewed and developed over time following feedback from stakeholders and user engagement. If you would like to provide any feedback, please contact PHS respiratory bacterial team phs.TB@phs.scot.
Main points
Provisional data for 2025 and 2026 show that:
- There were 58 TB notifications in quarter 1 2026.
- TB notifications in quarter 1 2026 decreased by 21.6% when compared with quarter 1 2025 when there were 74 TB notifications.
- The percentage of TB notifications in quarter 1 2026 that were male was 62.1% compared with 52.7% in quarter 1 2025.
- In quarter 1 2026, TB notifications were received from seven NHS boards compared to quarter 1 2025 when TB notifications were received from eight NHS boards.
- Most TB notifications in quarter 1 2026 were from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (26 cases, 44.8%) and NHS Lothian (11 cases, 19.0%).
- The percentage of TB notifications presenting with pulmonary disease in quarter 1 2026 was 56.9% compared with 70.3% in quarter 1 2025.
Overall numbers
There were 58 TB notifications in quarter 1 of 2026, which is a decrease of 21.6% when compared with quarter 1 2025 when there were 74 notifications. Table 1 shows the number of TB notifications per quarter.
Figure 1 illustrates the number of TB notifications per quarter for Scotland (from quarter 1 2020 to quarter 1 2026). The cumulative number of notifications by month can be seen in Figure 2.
| Year | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | 58 | 43 | 49 | 45 | 54 | 75 | 58 |
| Q2 | 44 | 67 | 50 | 77 | 83 | 86 | - |
| Q3 | 56 | 69 | 55 | 82 | 63 | 69 | - |
| Q4 | 61 | 50 | 45 | 79 | 68 | 68 | - |
| Total | 219 | 229 | 199 | 283 | 268 | 298 | - |
TB notifications by sex
The percentage of TB notifications in quarter 1 2026 that were male was 62.1% (36/58) compared with 52.7% (39/74) in quarter 1 2025.
Geographical distribution
Figure 3 shows the TB notifications in Scotland each quarter by NHS board. In quarter 1 2026:
TB notifications were received from seven NHS boards compared to eight NHS boards in quarter 1 2025.
Most TB notifications received were from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (26/58; 44.8%) and NHS Lothian (11/58; 19.0%).
TB notifications decreased in six NHS boards (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Fife, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, NHS Highland, NHS Lothian, and NHS Tayside) but increased in one NHS Board (NHS Forth Valley) when compared with quarter 1 2025. TB notifications in quarter 1 2026 were the same as those in quarter 1 2025 for NHS Grampian and NHS Lanarkshire.
There were no TB notifications from seven NHS boards in quarter 1 2026 (NHS Ayrshire and Arran, NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Highland, NHS Orkney, NHS Shetland and NHS Western Isles).
Site of TB disease
Figure 4 shows the proportion of TB notifications in Scotland with pulmonary and non-pulmonary disease by quarter. In quarter 1 2026, 56.9% (33/58) of TB notifications presented with pulmonary disease compared with 70.3% (52/74) in quarter 1 2025.
Country of birth and site of TB disease
Figure 5 shows the number of TB notifications by country of birth (UK born or non-UK born), where this was known, by quarter. The proportion of TB notifications amongst people born outside the UK was 70.7% (41/58) in quarter 1 2026, compared to 78.1% (57/73) in quarter 1 2025. This represented a 7.4% decrease in the proportion of cases born outside the UK and a 7.4% increase in the proportion of cases born in the UK when quarter 1 2026 was compared to quarter 1 2025.
Further information
The next release of this publication will be 11 August 2026.
General enquiries
If you have an enquiry relating to this publication, please contact phs.tb@phs.scot.
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Older versions of this publication
Versions of this publication released before 16 March 2020 may be found on the Data and Intelligence, Health Protection Scotland or Improving Health websites.