Up to 80,000 people may die if there is an outbreak of a major drug-resistant infection, according to a Government forecast.
A report produced for the Cabinet Office warns that if a new superbug develops, as many as 200,000 people might be infected by a bacterial blood infection.
The National Risk Register of Civil Emergencies report, which aims to assess the threat level from emergencies, is produced annually to help the Government decide on policy.
The report says that over the next two decades the number of infections complicated by superbugs is expected to rise significantly.
It warns that routine medical treatments could become "high-risk" because of the growing resistance to antibiotics.
The report states: "An increasingly serious issue is the development and spread of AMR (antimicrobial resistance), which occurs when drugs are no longer effective in treating infections caused by micro-organisms.
"Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations could become high-risk procedures, leading to increased duration of illness and ultimately premature mortality.
"Much of modern medicine (for example, organ transplantation, bowel surgery and some cancer treatments) may become unsafe due to the risk of infection.
"In addition, influenza pandemics would become more serious without effective treatments."
The assessment adds: "The numbers of infections complicated by AMR are expected to increase markedly over the next 20 years.
"If a widespread outbreak were to occur, we could expect around 200,000 people to be affected by a bacterial blood infection that could not be treated effectively with existing drugs, and around 80,000 of these people might die.
"High numbers of deaths could also be expected from other forms of antimicrobial resistant infection."
Politicians and scientists have previously warned of the need to find a cure for infections that have become resistant to drugs.
Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that it is a "very real and worrying threat" which could result in medicine being sent "back into the dark ages".
Professor Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said last year: "The world simply cannot afford not to take action to tackle the alarming rise in resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs we are witnessing at the moment."
In 2013, the Government produced a five-year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, which aims to tackle the threat from AMR.
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