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Tick-Borne Disease Case Numbers in Germany: TBE and Lyme Disease

TickSpot Guide · August 2026

In short: TBE is the only tick-borne disease that is nationally notifiable in Germany and has been recorded without gaps since 2001 — there were 693 cases in 2025. For Lyme disease, by contrast, no nationwide figure exists, because only 9 of Germany's 16 federal states require reporting. Both sets of numbers below come from official RKI publications and are cited with sources.

TBE: the only tick-borne disease tracked nationwide

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE, called FSME in Germany) has been nationally notifiable across Germany since 2001. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI, Germany's national disease-control agency) publishes the case numbers every year in its Epidemiological Bulletin:

The numbers swing considerably from year to year, influenced among other things by weather and how active ticks have been. RKI publishes the complete year-by-year series since 2001 in its SurvStat@RKI portal and its annual epidemiological yearbooks.

TBE risk areas: where the risk is officially established

RKI classifies districts (Landkreise) as TBE risk areas each year once enough cases have occurred there. The number has been rising for years:

Breakdown by federal state (risk areas out of total districts, as of January 2026):

The clear trend is geographic expansion: Saxony's first risk area was only designated in 2014, and Brandenburg's first ones not until 2024. For more on the seasonal pattern and how to adjust your check accordingly, see "Tick Season in Germany".

Lyme disease: why there's no nationwide figure

Unlike TBE, Lyme disease (Lyme borreliosis) is not nationally notifiable. Only 9 of Germany's 16 federal states have introduced their own reporting requirement: Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia — together around 42% of Germany's population. A nationwide official total simply doesn't exist as a result.

For these 9 states, solid figures come from a peer-reviewed analysis: between 2013 and 2017, a total of 56,446 cases were reported there — an average of around 11,289 per year, with incidence ranging from 26 per 100,000 population (2015) to 41 per 100,000 (2013).

There's also a completely different estimate: based on billing data from doctors' offices, RKI estimates around 214,000 patients per year nationwide receive a documented Lyme disease diagnosis. Important: this is not a notification count — it's an entirely different methodology that counts physician-recorded diagnoses, including without lab confirmation, and shouldn't be directly compared to the roughly 11,000-per-year notification figure above.

What this means for you

Even without an exact nationwide Lyme disease figure, both diseases genuinely occur in Germany, and the TBE risk area keeps expanding geographically. The most effective lever stays the same regardless of the exact statistics — find ticks early and remove them properly. Here's how: "How to Remove a Tick Properly" and "Tick Bite — What to Do Now".

The first step is always the same: find the tick as fast as possible. TickSpot helps — free, no sign-up.

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Sources

Note: This article is for general orientation and does not replace medical advice. RKI's own publications are authoritative for the most current numbers and risk-area maps; for health concerns, consult a doctor.

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