Serogroup or serotype distribution (for serogroup- or serotype-specific vaccines)

Currently 12 HPV types are defined as high-risk (oncogenic) and cause cancer in humans (types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59); type 68 is classified as probably causing cancer. Oncogenic risk varies by type, with type HPV16 being the most oncogenic. 
The most common HPV genotypes found in invasive cervical cancer are HPV16 and HPV18, together accounting for about 77% of cases. Other significant high-risk types include HPV31, 33, 35, 45, 52, and 58, which collectively contribute to nearly 95% of cases globally. 
To note that 2010 data is seen as a historical baseline. Given that the existing _HPV vaccines cover HPV-16 and HPV-18 types, measuring the "natural" seroprevalence burden for these two types (16 and 18) will no longer be possible, as they start to disappear due to vaccination. 
A more recent metaanalysis of HPV among men showed a global pooled prevalence of 31% (95% CI 27–35) for any HPV. Pooled prevalence estimates were similar for the regions of Europe and Northern America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Oceania, while estimates for Eastern and South-Eastern Asia were half that of the other regions. 

Sources

  • Bruni L, Diaz M, Castellsagué X, et al. (2010). Cervical human papillomavirus prevalence in 5 continents: meta-analysis of 1 million women with normal cytological findings. J Infect Dis. 202(12):1789–1799. doi:10.1086/657321.

  • Wei F, Georges D, Man I, Baussano I, Clifford GM (2024). Causal attribution of human papillomavirus genotypes to invasive cervical cancer worldwide: a systematic analysis of the global literature. Lancet. 404(10451):435–444. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)01097-3.

  • Gray P, Kann H, Pimenoff V, Adhikari I, Eriksson T, Surcel H, Vänskä S, Dillner J, Faust H, Lehtinen M (2020). Long‐term follow‐up of human papillomavirus type replacement among young pregnant Finnish females before and after a community‐randomised HPV vaccination trial with moderate coverage. Int J Cancer. 147:3511–3522. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijc.33169 (accessed 19 June 2025).

  • Bruni L, Albero G, Rowley J, Alemany L, Arbyn M, Giuliano AR, Markowitz LE, Broutet N, Taylor M (2023). Global and regional estimates of genital human papillomavirus prevalence among men: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Glob Health. 11(9):e1403–e1414. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00305-4 (accessed 19 June 2025).