Autism statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

The World Health Organization estimates that about 1 in 127 people worldwide were autistic in 2021, and recorded rates depend on how many people services assess. The key figures below show estimates from the World Health Organization ¹ and from national monitoring.

Autism is a lifelong difference in how a person communicates, relates to others and experiences the world, often with focused interests and different sensory experiences. Many autistic people lead full lives; many also meet barriers to education, work and health care, and some need a lot of support.

Counts of autism depend heavily on who gets assessed. Where diagnosis is hard to reach, recorded rates are low, and recorded rates have risen in many countries. Each figure below says whether it is a diagnosed count, a screening study or a statistical model. In a screening study, researchers check a whole group rather than only people already referred. A meta-analysis, or pooled estimate, combines the results of many studies into one figure. Prevalence is the share of people who are autistic.

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

Autism worldwide

The Global Burden of Disease study models how many people are autistic in every country. A separate review gathered studies that counted autism directly. An age-standardised rate adjusts for differences in age between populations, so readers can compare places fairly.

• The age standardised prevalence of autism worldwide was 788.3 per 100,000 people in 2021. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• Only 34 of the two hundred and four countries modelled had studies counting autism in their own population to feed the estimates. (published 2025, data year not stated) ³
• Autism was the seventh leading cause of years lived with disability among children under five worldwide in 2021, accounting for 4.3% of them. Years lived with disability measure time spent living with a condition, weighted by how much it limits daily life. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³

Boys, girls and diagnosis

More boys and men than girls and women receive an autism diagnosis. A meta-analysis suggests that services miss many autistic girls ⁷, and in England new diagnoses among females have risen fast ⁶. Rises in recorded autism can reflect wider awareness, broader criteria and better access to assessment. An adjusted figure allows for other differences between the groups compared, such as age.

• Worldwide in 2021, the modelled age-standardised rate of autism among males was 1064.7 per hundred thousand males. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• At the same sixteen sites in the United States in 2022, services identified autism 3.4 times as often among boys aged eight as among girls. (administrative records, at one point in time, 2022 data) ²
• Worldwide in 2021, the modelled age-standardised rate of autism among females was 508.1 per hundred thousand females. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• Global Burden of Disease estimates put the global age-standardised ratio of autistic males to females at about 2.1 to one in 2021, lower than ratios seen in diagnosis records. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• Across autism prevalence studies in a worldwide review, the median ratio of autistic males to females was 4.2 to one. (systematic review of studies, at one point in time, published 2022) ⁴
• A meta-analysis concluded that among children who meet the criteria for autism, the true ratio of boys to girls is closer to 3 to one than four to one, suggesting many girls go undiagnosed. (meta-analysis of studies, at one point in time, published 2017) ⁷
• In general practices in England that contribute to a primary care research database, the yearly rate of new autism diagnoses among females rose 8.6 times between 2000 and 2018, after adjustment. (administrative records, 2000-2018 data) ⁶
• The number of autistic females in Australia rose by 95.5% between the two most recent Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers. (survey, 2018-2022 data) ⁸
• In English primary care records, 1.2% of males had an autism diagnosis in 2018, a higher share than among females. (administrative records, at one point in time, 2018 data) ⁶

Diagnosis gaps

Projections for England suggest that many autistic adults, particularly older adults, have never had a diagnosis ⁶.

• In England, an estimated 0.8% of the population had an autism diagnosis in 2018. (modelled, at one point in time, 2018 data) ⁶
• Projections suggest that at most 7.9% of autistic people aged fifty and over in England had a diagnosis in 2018. (modelled, at one point in time, 2018 data) ⁶
• In Canada, 53.7% of diagnosed children and young people had received their autism diagnosis before age five, by the 2019 survey. (survey, at one point in time, 2019 data) ⁹
• Across eleven monitoring sites in the United States, identified autism among children aged eight rose by 22.2% between 2020 and 2022. (administrative records, 2020-2022 data) ¹⁰

Co-occurring conditions

Meta-analyses find that autistic people often have other conditions alongside autism, including ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) ⁵, anxiety ⁵ and sleep difficulties, each of which deserves support in its own right. A sleep-wake disorder means ongoing problems with falling asleep, staying asleep or the timing of sleep.

• A meta-analysis found that about 28% of autistic people also had a diagnosis of ADHD. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2019) ⁵
• A meta-analysis found that 11% of autistic people had a depressive disorder. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2019) ⁵
• A meta-analysis found that 13% of autistic people had a sleep wake disorder. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2019) ⁵
• Across autism prevalence studies in a worldwide review, a median of 33.0% of autistic people also had an intellectual disability. (systematic review of studies, at one point in time, published 2022) ⁴
• Among autistic children aged eight with cognitive test data at fifteen monitoring sites in the United States, 39.6% also had an intellectual disability in 2022. (administrative records, at one point in time, 2022 data) ¹⁰

Education and work

In Australia's national disability survey, autistic adults face large gaps in employment and education compared with the general population ⁸.

• In Australia, the unemployment rate for autistic people of working age was 18.2% in 2022, almost six times the rate for people without disability. (survey, at one point in time, 2022 data) ⁸
• In Australia, 5.2% of autistic people aged fifteen and over living in households had a bachelor degree or higher in 2022, a much lower share than people without disability. (survey, at one point in time, 2022 data) ⁸

Regional figures

Modelled estimates for regions where few studies exist, and counts from regional reviews.

• The modelled age-standardised prevalence of autism in the tropical Latin America region was 614.5 per 100,000 people in 2021. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• The modelled age standardised autism prevalence in Eastern sub-Saharan Africa was 814 per 100,000 people in 2023. (modelled estimate, 2023 data) ¹¹
• Global Burden of Disease modelling estimates that 4.24 million people in Eastern sub-Saharan Africa were autistic in 2023. (modelled estimate, 2023 data) ¹¹
• Pooled autism prevalence was 0.5% in more recent Middle East and North Africa studies of children, far higher than in earlier studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2025) ¹²
• Only 2.3% of autism prevalence studies published worldwide come from Latin America and the Caribbean. (published 2025, data year not stated) ¹³

National figures

National figures mix modelled estimates, government records and screening studies, some of them in one city or province. A total population study sets out to assess every child in an area, not only children already referred. Each figure names its population and method. An adjusted figure allows for other differences between the groups compared, such as age. Significantly higher means the difference is unlikely to be due to chance alone.

• The modelled age-standardised autism prevalence for Japan was 1586.9 per 100,000 people in 2021, in a model where most countries have no direct data. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• The modelled age-standardised autism prevalence for Bangladesh was 588.2 per 100,000 people in 2021, in a model where most countries have no direct data. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ³
• In China, a survey of children aged six to twelve in eight cities estimated that 0.7% of children were autistic. (survey, at one point in time, 2014-2016 data) ¹⁴
• In a survey of children aged six to twelve in eight cities in China, 43.3% of the autistic children it identified had no earlier diagnosis, and most attended regular schools. (survey, at one point in time, 2014-2016 data) ¹⁴
• A total population study in one community in South Korea estimated that 2.6% of children aged seven to twelve were autistic, two thirds of them in mainstream schools and undiagnosed. (survey, at one point in time, published 2011, fieldwork year not stated) ¹⁵
• Screening every five year old in one city in Japan found an adjusted autism prevalence of 3.2%. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2016 data) ¹⁶
• A community screening of children aged one to ten in Himachal Pradesh, India, found autism in 0.9 per thousand children. (survey, at one point in time, published 2015, fieldwork year not stated) ¹⁷
• In 2017, 0.8% of children aged eighteen to thirty months at three sites in northern Vietnam were autistic. (survey, at one point in time, 2017 data) ¹⁸
• A national study in Qatar estimated that 1.1% of children aged six to eleven were autistic. (survey, at one point in time, 2015-2018 data) ¹⁹
• Researchers judge that the official estimate, that 0.6% of children in Saudi Arabia are autistic, understates the true figure. (published 2025, data year not stated) ²⁰
• Benchmarking against other studies, researchers put the upper end of realistic autism prevalence among children in Saudi Arabia at 1.8%. (modelled estimate, published 2025, data year not stated) ²⁰
• A national survey in Egypt found that 1.1% of children aged one to twelve were autistic. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2021 data) ²¹
• In Egypt, 1.7% of boys aged one to twelve were autistic, about four times the rate among girls. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2021 data) ²¹
• In Egypt, autism prevalence was 1.6% among children aged one to twelve in urban areas, significantly higher than in rural areas. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2021 data) ²¹
• A school based study of seven hundred and twenty-one pupils in south east Nigeria found that 2.9% met criteria for autism. (survey, at one point in time, 2014 data) ²²
• Modelling from school and health records projects a national autism prevalence of 1.3% among school age children in Chile. (modelled estimate, published 2025, data year not stated) ¹³
• Global Burden of Disease modelling estimates that more than one million people in Brazil, 0.5% of the population, were autistic in 2023. (modelled estimate, 2023 data) ²³
• The first autism prevalence survey in Mexico, among eight year olds in one city, found a prevalence of 0.9%. (survey, at one point in time, published 2016, fieldwork year not stated) ²⁴
• In Australia, 1.1% of people were autistic in 2022, a higher share than in the previous national disability survey. (survey, at one point in time, 2022 data) ⁸
• In Australia, 4.3% of children aged five to fourteen were autistic in 2022. (survey, at one point in time, 2022 data) ⁸
• In Canada, about 2.0% of children and young people aged one to seventeen had an autism diagnosis in 2019. (survey, at one point in time, 2019 data) ⁹
• In Chile, the adjusted autism prevalence in national school records was only 0.5% among pupils aged six to eighteen, below the projected national figure. (administrative records, at one point in time, published 2025, data year not stated) ¹³

National figures side by side

These figures count autism in different ways, from diagnosis records to modelled estimates and local screening studies. Read each row with its label, and do not rank the countries.

How to read these figures

A diagnosed figure counts people who reached an assessment. Where services are scarce, surveys and records miss many autistic people.

Modelled estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study fill gaps where no survey exists. They are estimates, not counts.

Rises in recorded autism can reflect wider awareness, broader criteria and better access to assessment.

Several national figures come from one city or province and may not reflect the whole country.

An autism assessment can help a person understand themselves and get support that fits. Support is about the person's own goals: communication, sensory needs, education, work and mental health. Our guide to autism spectrum disorder explains more.

Autistic people often find therapy most helpful when the therapist understands autism and adapts how they work. Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for. If you are in distress right now, see our helplines and crisis lines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Autism statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/autism-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 23 October 2026.

References

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