Rates of antimicrobial resistance were highest in London and lowest in North East England, and highest among people aged 74 years and older.

The greatest number of bacteraemia episodes caused by resistant organisms occurred among people of White ethnicity but the highest rate of resistance in bacteraemia episodes was seen among Asian or Asian British people, followed by Black, African, Caribbean and Black British people.

Across all age and sex groups, the proportion of resistant bacteraemia was higher in the Asian or Asian British population than in the White population.

The disparity was particularly pronounced in females aged ≥74 years, where 48.7% of episodes were resistant among Asian or Asian British people, compared with 22% among White people.

People living in the most deprived areas experienced the highest rates of resistant bacteraemia – 47.2% higher than those in the least deprived areas (55.9 versus 29.4 episodes per 100,000 population). That 47.2% gap was up from 29.0% in 2019.⁹