Dementia statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

Dementia is common in later life, and depression, anxiety and agitation often come with it. The World Health Organization estimates how many people live with dementia ¹. The key figures below show how many people live with it and how often these symptoms occur.

Dementia is a group of conditions that damage memory, thinking and the ability to manage daily life. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. Risk rises steeply with age, but dementia is not a normal part of ageing.

Dementia is also a mental health matter. Depression, anxiety, apathy (a loss of interest, drive and motivation) and agitation (restlessness, distress or aggressive behaviour) are common in people living with it. They shape daily life for families and carers as much as memory loss does. A meta-analysis, or pooled estimate, combines the results of many studies into one figure.

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.

How many people live with dementia

Worldwide counts come from modelled estimates. They show how large the condition is and where most people with dementia live.

• Of all people living with dementia worldwide, more than 60% live in low- and middle-income countries, according to World Health Organization estimates. (modelled estimate, 2021 data) ¹
• Dementia ranks seventh among the leading causes of death worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. (modelled, published 2026, data year not stated) ¹
• Young-onset dementia, where symptoms begin before age sixty-five, accounts for up to 9% of dementia cases worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. (published 2026, data year not stated) ¹
• In a study across nineteen European countries, women made up 58.8% of participants aged sixty and over with probable but undiagnosed dementia. (survey, 2011-2019 data) ⁴
• Averaged across country estimates for twenty-seven European countries and Israel, 11% of adults aged sixty-five and over lived with dementia, measured with identical survey questions and tests in every country. (survey, modelled estimate, 2021-2022 data) ⁵

Dementia across countries and regions

Prevalence, the share of people who have dementia at one time, depends on age, schooling and where people live. Studies differ in age bands and methods, so each figure names its sample, and figures are best read within a country rather than ranked against each other. The Middle East and North Africa review pooled studies of different age groups, some of older adults only and some of whole populations of all ages, so its figures describe no single age group. The census source links the higher dementia risk among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to health inequity stemming from colonisation and structural racism ⁸. An adjusted figure allows for other differences between the groups compared, such as age. A harmonised survey uses the same questions and tests in every country.

• Applying national survey prevalence to the population, researchers estimate that 8.8 million people aged sixty and over in India live with dementia. (survey, modelled estimate, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• Researchers project that 10.4 million people aged fifty-five and over were living with dementia in China in 2015. (survey, modelled estimate, 2015 data) ⁷
• A nationally representative survey found dementia in 7.4% of adults aged sixty and over in India. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• In India, 9.0% of women aged sixty and over live with dementia, a higher share than among men, likely because women in this group are older and had less schooling. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• Among rural residents of India aged sixty and over, dementia prevalence stood at 8.4%, higher than in urban areas. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• Urban residents of India aged sixty and over had a dementia prevalence of 5.3%, lower than their rural counterparts. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• Among adults aged eighty-five and over in India, dementia prevalence reached 25.4%, far above the rate in the early sixties. (survey, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• Indian adults aged sixty and over with no formal education had an estimated dementia prevalence of 10.3%, well above that of better-educated peers. (modelled, at one point in time, 2017-2020 data) ⁶
• A national survey in China found dementia in 2.7% of adults aged fifty-five to sixty-four, a group often overlooked in dementia planning. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2015 data) ⁷
• China's national mental health survey found dementia in 5.6% of adults aged sixty-five and over. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2015 data) ⁷
• In rural China, 20.4% of people aged eighty and over live with dementia, higher than among urban residents of the same age. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2015 data) ⁷
• Among urban Chinese adults aged sixty-five and over, those who never learned to read had the highest dementia prevalence, at 13.5%. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2015 data) ⁷
• Spain had the highest modelled dementia prevalence among adults aged sixty-five and over in a harmonised European survey, at 22.7%. (survey, modelled estimate, 2021-2022 data) ⁵
• Across twenty-seven European countries and Israel, adults aged sixty-five and over with primary schooling or less had an estimated age- and sex-adjusted dementia prevalence of 13.7%, the highest of any education group. (survey, modelled estimate, 2021-2022 data) ⁵
• In Australia's 2021 census, after allowing for differences in age between the groups, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples aged forty-five to eighty-four reported dementia 2.2 times as often as non-Indigenous peoples. Census answers are likely to under-count dementia. (survey, at one point in time, 2021 data) ⁸
• Among people aged forty-five to forty-nine in Australia's 2021 census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reported dementia 3.5 times as often as non-Indigenous peoples. The gap narrowed at older ages. (survey, at one point in time, 2021 data) ⁸
• In a study at sites in Mexico, 8% of community-dwelling adults aged sixty-five and over met criteria for dementia. The figure covers people in the study's first survey round, the baseline survey, who had genetic data. (survey, at one point in time, published 2024, fieldwork year not stated) ⁹
• In a study at urban and rural sites in Peru, 9.7% of community-dwelling adults aged sixty-five and over met criteria for dementia. The figure covers people in the study's first survey round, the baseline survey, who had genetic data. (survey, at one point in time, published 2024, fieldwork year not stated) ⁹
• Pooling population-based studies with mixed age bands from selected Middle East and North Africa countries, researchers estimated dementia prevalence at 12.2%, with wide variation between countries. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• In a Middle East and North Africa meta-analysis of population-based studies with mixed age bands, pooled dementia prevalence was 17.0% in Israel; differences between countries may reflect which people the studies sampled. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• Studies from Iran in a regional meta-analysis, pooled from studies with mixed age bands and settings, put dementia prevalence at 13.2%. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• Studies from Turkey in a Middle East and North Africa meta-analysis, pooled from studies with mixed age bands and settings, put dementia prevalence at 11.4%. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• In Saudi Arabia, studies in a regional meta-analysis, pooled from studies with mixed age bands and settings, put dementia prevalence at 8.3%, with very wide uncertainty. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• In Egypt, studies in a Middle East and North Africa meta-analysis, pooled from studies with mixed age bands and settings, put dementia prevalence at 6.9%. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• In selected Middle East and North Africa countries, pooled population-based studies that reported results by sex, with mixed age bands, put dementia prevalence among women at 13.8%. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2026) ¹⁰
• Mild cognitive impairment, measurable decline in thinking or memory that does not substantially impair daily life, affected 20% of adults aged fifty and over in pooled African studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2025) ¹¹
• In Nigeria, pooled studies found mild cognitive impairment, not dementia, in 23.4% of older adults. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2025) ¹¹
• Subjective cognitive decline, meaning self-reported decline in thinking or memory without measured impairment, affected 50% of adults aged fifty and over in pooled African studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, at one point in time, published 2025) ¹¹
• Across counties of the continental United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii, modelled Alzheimer's disease dementia averaged 11.2% of adults aged sixty-five and over, adjusted for age, sex, race and education. (modelled estimate, 2020 data) ¹²
• Among the forty-eight continental states, all except Alaska and Hawaii, Mississippi had the highest modelled rate of Alzheimer's disease dementia among adults aged sixty-five and over, at 13.1%, averaged across its counties. (modelled estimate, 2020 data) ¹²

Depression, anxiety and other symptoms

Most people living with dementia have at least one behavioural or psychological symptom: a change in mood, behaviour or perception, such as apathy, agitation, delusions or hallucinations. These figures pool community studies that used different tools, so they show the size of the problem rather than precise rates. Delusions are false beliefs a person holds firmly, and hallucinations mean seeing or hearing things no one else does. Dementia with Lewy bodies is a type of dementia linked to abnormal protein deposits in the brain.

• Apathy is the most common behavioural and psychological symptom among community-dwelling people living with dementia, affecting 32% of them in pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with dementia, 29% show symptoms of anxiety, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with dementia, 27% show agitation or aggression, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with dementia, 19% experience delusions, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with dementia, 12% experience hallucinations, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with severe dementia, 56% show agitation or aggression, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among community-dwelling people living with Alzheimer's disease, 39% show symptoms of depression, according to pooled community studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2021) ²
• Among people living with dementia with Lewy bodies, 57% experience apathy, according to a pooled analysis of published studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2025) ¹³
• Among people living with Parkinson's disease dementia, 56% experience apathy, according to a pooled analysis of published studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2025) ¹³

Agitation in care homes and hospitals

Agitation is common where people with more advanced dementia live or receive treatment. It often signals unmet needs such as pain, fear or boredom, and it is distressing for the person and for staff.

• In English care homes, 86% of residents living with dementia showed at least some symptoms of agitation, according to staff ratings. (survey, at one point in time, 2014-2015 data) ³
• In a survey of eighty-six English care homes, staff ratings showed clinically significant agitation in 13% of residents living with very mild dementia. (survey, at one point in time, 2014-2015 data) ³
• In English care homes, 45% of residents living with moderate or severe dementia had clinically significant agitation, far more than those with very mild dementia. (survey, at one point in time, 2014-2015 data) ³
• In German nursing homes, 6.3% of residents living with dementia showed severe agitation, according to staff ratings. (survey, at one point in time, 2012-2014 data) ¹⁴
• In German nursing homes, 42.5% of residents living with dementia showed mild or moderate agitation, according to staff ratings. (survey, at one point in time, 2012-2014 data) ¹⁴
• In one health record database in the United States, 44.6% of community-dwelling people aged sixty-five and over with Alzheimer's-type dementia had agitation noted in diagnosis codes or notes over two years. (administrative records, 2008-2015 data) ¹⁵
• In one health record database in the United States, 74.6% of community-dwelling people aged sixty-five and over with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's-type dementia had agitation noted in diagnosis codes or notes over two years. (administrative records, 2008-2015 data) ¹⁵
• In acute hospitals, 60% of older inpatients living with dementia show behavioural and psychological symptoms, according to pooled hospital studies. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2025) ¹⁶
• In a review of acute hospital studies, aggression or agitation was among the most prevalent symptoms, reported in 39% of older inpatients living with dementia. (systematic review of studies, published 2025) ¹⁶

Care needs

Most people living with dementia come to need help with daily life. In China, a national survey compared older people's need for help with daily life with their use of health services.

• In China, 62.6% of community-dwelling people aged sixty-five and over living with dementia needed help with daily activities or safety, far more than people of that age without dementia. Yet they did not use health services more. (survey, at one point in time, 2013-2015 data) ⁷

How to read these figures

Worldwide counts and new cases each year come from models, not head counts.

Prevalence studies use different age bands, diagnostic methods and samples. Some cover only the area a study draws its people from, its catchment area, or a region, rather than a whole country. Each figure names its sample.

The Australian census figures rest on dementia as reported on the census form, which counts fewer cases than clinical studies.

Symptom figures pool studies that used different rating tools, and results varied widely between studies. The United States agitation figures come from health records, not clinical assessment.

Apart from the Egypt figure from a Middle East and North Africa review, we found no dementia prevalence figure for Africa; the Nigeria figure is for mild cognitive impairment.

Dementia changes life for the person and for everyone close to them. Depression, anxiety and agitation in dementia deserve assessment and care in their own right, and carers need support for their own mental health too.

If you are worried about memory or mood, in yourself or someone close to you, a doctor can help work out what is going on. A therapist can support people living with dementia and the families who care for them.

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

References

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