Vaginal health statistics: yeast, BV, UTIs and trich by the numbers (2026)

Key statistics.

• 75% of women will have at least one vaginal yeast infection and 40% to 45% will have two or more, according to the CDC STI treatment guidelines.
• Less than 5% of women have recurrent yeast infections, defined as three or more symptomatic episodes in less than a year, per the CDC guidelines.
• 138 million women worldwide have recurrent yeast infections each year, and 372 million are affected over their lifetime, in a 2018 Lancet Infectious Diseases review.
• 9% of women aged 25 to 34, the highest of any age group, have recurrent yeast infections, per the same 2018 review.
• 10% to 20% of women carry Candida or other yeasts in the vagina without symptoms, according to the CDC guidelines.
• 29.2% of US women aged 14 to 49 had bacterial vaginosis in NHANES 2001 to 2004, about 21 million women.
• 84% of women with BV in that national sample did not report symptoms, per Koumans et al.
• 23% to 29% is the global BV prevalence among women of reproductive age cited by the WHO.
• 58% of women treated for BV with oral metronidazole had a recurrence within 12 months in a 2006 Journal of Infectious Diseases study.
• 50% to 60% of adult women will have a urinary tract infection in their lifetime, according to a 2019 review in Therapeutic Advances in Urology.
• 10.8% of US women aged 18 and older reported at least one presumed UTI in the past 12 months in a national telephone survey of 2,000 women.
• One third of women will have at least one physician diagnosed UTI treated with prescription medicine by age 24, the same survey's authors estimate.
• 26.6% of 113 young women with a first UTI had a culture confirmed recurrence within six months in a 1990 American Journal of Public Health cohort.
• 2.1% of US females have trichomoniasis, versus 0.5% of males, according to the CDC STI treatment guidelines.
• About 70% of people with trichomoniasis have no signs or symptoms, and 1 in 5 are reinfected within 3 months of treatment, according to CDC.
• 33.7% of women who bought an over the counter yeast treatment for symptoms actually had a yeast infection alone, in a 2002 Obstetrics and Gynecology study.
• Almost one in five US women aged 15 to 44 douche, according to the Office on Women's Health.

Yeast infection statistics.

Vaginal yeast infection, or vulvovaginal candidiasis, is the infection most women have had at least once. The two most cited US sources agree closely on lifetime risk and differ slightly on repeat infections, so both are shown.

Measure	Figure	Source
At least one yeast infection in a lifetime	An estimated 75%	CDC, 2021
At least one yeast infection in a lifetime	Up to 3 in 4 women	Cleveland Clinic
Two or more episodes	40% to 45%	CDC, 2021
Two or more episodes	About half of all women	Cleveland Clinic
Complicated yeast infection	10% to 20%	CDC, 2021
Recurrent (3 or more a year)	Less than 5% of women	CDC, 2021
Recurrent (4 or more a year), global	138 million women a year; 3,871 per 100,000	Denning et al., 2018
Symptom relief with azole treatment	80% to 90% of those who complete therapy	CDC, 2021

The recurrent figures use different definitions: CDC counts three or more episodes in under a year, while the 2018 global review counts four or more a year, so they are not directly comparable. CDC also notes that finding Candida on a culture without symptoms is not a reason to treat, because 10% to 20% of women carry it normally. Treatment options are compared in best yeast infection treatment, Monistat review and boric acid suppositories.

Bacterial vaginosis statistics.

BV is an imbalance of vaginal bacteria rather than an infection with one germ. CDC calls it the most common vaginal condition in women aged 15 to 44. The best US prevalence figure still comes from a CDC analysis of self collected swabs in NHANES.

Year	Figure	Population	Source
2025	23% to 29% prevalence	Women of reproductive age, global meta-analysis cited by WHO	WHO
2007	29.2% prevalence (about 21 million women)	US women aged 14 to 49, NHANES 2001 to 2004	Koumans et al.
2007	51.4% non-Hispanic Black, 31.9% Mexican American, 23.2% non-Hispanic white	Same	Koumans et al.
2007	Only 15.7% reported symptoms	Women with BV in the same sample	Koumans et al.
2006	58% recurred within 12 months	Women with symptomatic BV treated with oral metronidazole (139 enrolled)	Bradshaw et al.

In the NHANES analysis, BV remained linked with race and ethnicity, more lifetime sex partners, more frequent douching and lower education after adjustment, and was less common in women using birth control pills. In the recurrence study, 69% had a return of abnormal vaginal flora by 12 months. A past history of BV, a regular partner throughout the study and female partners predicted recurrence. What works, and what does not, is in BV treatment and best vaginal probiotics.

UTI statistics for women.

UTIs are bladder and urinary infections rather than vaginal ones, but they are part of the same conversation for most women. NIDDK notes bladder infections are the most common type of UTI and more common in women than in men.

Measure	Figure	Population	Source
Lifetime incidence	50% to 60%	Adult women	Medina and Castillo-Pino, 2019
Lifetime	About half of females	Females	Cleveland Clinic
Past 12 months	10.8% reported at least one presumed UTI	2,000 US women aged 18 and older	Foxman et al., 2000
By age 24	One third have had a physician diagnosed, prescription treated UTI	US women, estimate	Foxman et al., 2000
Recurrence within 6 months	26.6%	113 young women after a first UTI	Foxman, 1990
People treated each year	8 million to 10 million	United States	Cleveland Clinic

The 2019 review adds that UTI prevalence in women over 65 is approximately double the rate in the female population overall. For prevention questions, see D-mannose for UTI and can lube cause a UTI.

Trichomoniasis statistics.

Trichomoniasis, or trich, is caused by a parasite and is the most common curable STI, per CDC. Because most people never have symptoms and it is not a reportable disease, prevalence comes from population surveys.

Measure	Figure	Source
People affected in the US	Approximately 2.6 million	CDC STI guidelines
Infections in the US in 2018	More than two million	CDC
Prevalence among US females	2.1% (males 0.5%)	CDC STI guidelines
Prevalence among Black females	9.6%	CDC STI guidelines
Prevalence among non-Hispanic White and Hispanic women	0.8% and 1.4%	CDC STI guidelines
No signs or symptoms	About 70%	CDC
Reinfection within 3 months of treatment	About 1 in 5	CDC

The two CDC pages give slightly different headline counts (about 2.6 million people, and more than two million infections in 2018), so we show both. Trich often shows up as a change in discharge or odor; see vaginal discharge and vaginal odor for what is normal.

Self diagnosis and douching.

Many women treat vaginal symptoms at home first, and the evidence says the guess is often wrong. The best known study recruited symptomatic women as they bought an over the counter yeast treatment for themselves, then examined and tested them.

Actual diagnosis	Share of 95 women who self diagnosed a yeast infection	Source
Yeast infection alone	33.7%	Ferris et al., 2002
Mixed vaginitis	21.1%	Ferris et al., 2002
Bacterial vaginosis	18.9%	Ferris et al., 2002
Normal	13.7%	Ferris et al., 2002
Other diagnoses	10.5%	Ferris et al., 2002
Trichomonas vaginitis	2.1%	Ferris et al., 2002

Women with a previous clinician diagnosis of yeast infection were not more accurate, and reading the package label did not help. Douching is the other habit the data keep flagging. The Office on Women's Health says almost one in five US women aged 15 to 44 douche, citing National Survey of Family Growth data, and that studies have found no health benefit to it. In the CDC NHANES analysis above, BV rose with douching frequency. If odor or itch is the reason for douching, itchy vagina and best feminine wash cover gentler options.

How we compiled these numbers.

We collected published figures from primary sources: CDC treatment guidelines and fact sheets, the WHO, the Office on Women's Health, NIDDK, Cleveland Clinic and peer reviewed studies indexed on PubMed. We opened every source and copied each number as published, with its year and population. We list the newest authoritative figure first and show competing figures side by side when sources disagree, as with repeat yeast infections and trichomoniasis counts. Some of the best data is old: the US BV figure is from 2001 to 2004 and the self diagnosis study from 2002, and we say so rather than present them as current. We do not combine studies into a single number or estimate figures that were not published. Surveys run by consumer brands are not used here. This page is reviewed when new data is published.

Using these statistics.

These statistics are free to cite. Please name the original source shown next to each number and link to this page, wetbetty.com/vaginal-health-statistics, as the compiler. If you spot a newer figure or an error, tell us and we will update the page. Nothing here is medical advice; for new or recurring symptoms, see a clinician, and for our full coverage, the health hub.