The number of people in New Zealand with HIV is on the rise.

The latest figures show 217 people were newly reported with HIV last year - which is higher than any year since 2008.

Gay and bisexual men continue to be the most affected group, representing 63% of new cases. Around 20% of gay men with HIV do not know that they have it.

AIDS Foundation executive director Shaun Robinson claims this should serve as a wake up call for the gay community, that HIV was not a thing of the past.

Robinson points out this is the third year in a row there's been an increase in the in the number of gay and bisexual men infected.

"Some of it may, strangely, be good news, because we've been increasing the amount of HIV testing in New Zealand."

The internet is being partly blamed for the rise. Robinson said people may be getting confused by mixed messages out there.

"There is surprisingly quite a lot of anti-condom information coming from America, Australia and other parts of the world."

However, he had a simple message around condom use.

"If they were using condoms, they wouldn't be contracting HIV."

Overall, New Zealand is considered to have low rates of HIV relative to other countries.

Nearly 30,000 people in Australia live with HIV, as opposed to less than 3000 in New Zealand. 6.5% percent of gay men in New Zealand have HIV, and in Australia the rate is 14%.