According to official data, in Moscow, as in the Russian Federation as a whole, there is a persistent tendency to decrease of the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STDs), including gonococcal ones. At the same time, in USA, according to CDC, dynamic of STDs incidence on the contrary, tends to increase. Incidence rates of gonococcal infection (GI) in 2017 were more than 16 times higher than the similar data for the Russian Federation. Differences in incidence rates in the Russian Federation and the USA can be explained both by the features of the epidemic process in different geographical regions, as well as by a number of other factors. Among them are differences in the applied methods of laboratory diagnostics, coverage of the population, including groups at high risk of infection, and the source of information about detected cases of infection. In the Russian Federation, there is a redistribution of patient flows from the system of the state dermatovenereological service to private medical organizations or multidisciplinary treatment and prophylactic organizations providing services for the diagnosis and treatment of STDs. However, in Moscow, cases of STDs diagnosed in non-governmental medical institutions are not registered in the vast majority of cases. At the same time, almost 90% of all cases of gonococcal infection in the United States are diagnosed and registered in non-dermatovenereological clinics (non-DVC). Finally, in the United States and European Union countries, when controlling the incidence of GI and other STDs, much attention is paid to the examination of sexual partners. In addition, a large number of screening programs are carried out to detect infected people among various population groups. In this article, we analyze the factors affecting the reliability of official statistics on the incidence of GI and suggest ways to optimize the detection and registration of cases of GI.