OCD statistics

Obsessive-compulsive disorder, or OCD, has two parts. Obsessions are thoughts, images or urges that keep coming back, though the person does not want them. Compulsions are actions or mental rituals a person feels driven to repeat. Together they take up time and cause real distress.

Studies count OCD in different ways. Most surveys below used the older DSM-IV manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The newer DSM-5 and the World Health Organization's ICD-11 (code 6B20) give OCD a group of its own, apart from the anxiety disorders.

Studies also cover different periods. A lifetime figure counts anyone who has ever had OCD. A past-year figure counts only recent cases. Many more people have obsessions or compulsions without meeting the full criteria. Each figure below says which group it counts.

Worldwide

The first three figures pool many community studies of adults. The rest come from the World Mental Health surveys, run in ten countries with the same diagnostic interview and the DSM-IV criteria. Some of those surveys covered whole countries and some covered single cities or regions.

• Pooling community studies of adults from many countries, 1.3% of adults had ever had OCD. (pooled from prevalence studies, lifetime (ever), published 2020, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Pooling community studies of adults from many countries, 1.5% of women had ever had OCD. (pooled from prevalence studies, lifetime (ever), published 2020, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Pooling community studies of adults from many countries, 1.0% of men had ever had OCD. (pooled from prevalence studies, lifetime (ever), published 2020, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 4.1% of adults had ever had OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 3.0% of adults had OCD in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 13.6% of adults had ever had obsessions or compulsions, with or without OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 74.1% of adults who had ever had OCD still had it in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²

When OCD begins

OCD usually starts in the teenage years or early adulthood. The first figure comes from the World Mental Health surveys. The other two pool studies of age at onset from many countries, for OCD and the closely related disorders grouped with it.

• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, half of adults who had ever had OCD said it began by age 17. (survey, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Half of people with obsessive-compulsive or related disorders had their first onset by age 19. (pooled from age-at-onset studies, published 2022, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³
• For obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, the most common age of onset was 14.5 years. (pooled from age-at-onset studies, published 2022, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³

Severity and treatment

These figures come from the World Mental Health surveys. Each person's severity score rests on their answers to a standard OCD scale, the Y-BOCS. Treatment means any mental health treatment in the past year.

• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 47.0% of adults with OCD in the past year had mild symptoms. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 22.9% of adults with OCD in the past year had moderate symptoms. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 2.7% of adults with OCD in the past year had severe symptoms. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Across World Mental Health surveys in ten countries, 19.8% of adults with OCD in the past year had any mental health treatment that year. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• In the high-income countries among the World Mental Health surveys, 40.5% of adults with OCD in the past year had treatment that year. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• In the low- and middle-income countries among the World Mental Health surveys, 7.0% of adults with OCD in the past year had treatment that year. (survey, past 12 months, 2005-2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²

North America

The figures for the United States come from a national household survey of adults that used the DSM-IV criteria.

• In the United States, 2.3% of adults in a national household survey had ever had OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 1.2% of adults in a national household survey had OCD in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 28.2% of adults in a national household survey had ever had obsessions or compulsions, with or without OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, adults who had ever had OCD said it began at an average age of 19.5 years. (survey, 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 90% of adults who had ever had OCD had also had another mental disorder in their lifetime. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 75.8% of adults who had ever had OCD had also had an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 63.3% of adults who had ever had OCD had also had a mood disorder, such as depression, in their lifetime. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 65.3% of adults with OCD in the past year reported severe impairment in daily life. (survey, past 12 months, 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the United States, 49.2% of adults with OCD in the past year received treatment for emotional problems that year. (survey, past 12 months, 2001-2003 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴

Europe

Spain's figure comes from the World Mental Health survey in one region, Murcia, not the whole country. Germany's figures come from a questionnaire answered by adults treated for OCD at one university clinic in Leipzig. They show how long people waited, not how common OCD is.

• In Spain, 0.4% of adults in the region of Murcia had ever had OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2025, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• In Germany, adult outpatients with OCD at a university clinic in Leipzig said an average of 12.78 years passed between first symptoms and diagnosis. (survey, 2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁵
• In Germany, adult outpatients with OCD at a university clinic in Leipzig said an average of 1.45 years passed between diagnosis and the start of therapy. (survey, 2019 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁵

Middle East

Saudi Arabia's figures come from a national household survey of Saudi citizens that used the World Mental Health interview and the DSM-IV criteria.

• In Saudi Arabia, 4.2% of Saudi citizens aged 15 to 65 in a national household survey had ever had OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2014-2016 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶
• In Saudi Arabia, 1.8% of Saudi citizens aged 15 to 65 in a national household survey had OCD in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2014-2016 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶
• In Saudi Arabia, 72.2% of people who had ever had OCD had also had another mental disorder. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2014-2016 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶
• In Saudi Arabia, 9.2% of people with OCD in the past year had any health treatment that year. (survey, past 12 months, 2014-2016 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶

Asia

China's figure comes from the World Mental Health survey in one city, Shenzhen. It describes that city, not the whole country.

• In China, 5.5% of adults in the city of Shenzhen had ever had OCD. (survey, lifetime (ever), published 2025, fieldwork year not stated, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²

Oceania

Australia's figure comes from a national household survey that used a diagnostic interview. It counts OCD present in the previous twelve months.

• In Australia, 3.6% of people aged 16 to 85 had OCD in the previous twelve months. (survey, past 12 months, 2020-2022 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁷

National and regional figures side by side

These studies used different samples and periods. Read each row with its label, and do not rank the countries.

How to read these figures

A lifetime figure is never lower than a past-year figure from the same people. Compare like with like.

Rates differ a great deal between surveys. The interview, the criteria and the wording of questions all matter. Some earlier studies suggested that lay interviewers count more cases than clinicians do.

Having obsessions or compulsions now and then is common. A diagnosis of OCD needs them to take up a lot of time, cause distress or get in the way of daily life.

Some figures describe one city, one region or one clinic. They do not stand for a whole country.

In the surveys above, fewer than half of people with OCD had any treatment in the past year. Help exists. A therapist experienced with OCD can explain the options. 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 suicide hotlines worldwide.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. OCD statistics. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd-2025-statistics-by-therapyroute. Last updated 10 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Women Are at Greater Risk of OCD Than Men: A Meta-Analytic Review of OCD Prevalence Worldwide. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (Fawcett et al.), 2020 europepmc.org.
2. [2] Obsessive-compulsive disorder in the World Mental Health surveys. BMC Medicine (Stein et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
3. [3] Age at onset of mental disorders worldwide: large-scale meta-analysis of 192 epidemiological studies. Molecular Psychiatry (Solmi et al.), 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
4. [4] The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Molecular Psychiatry (Ruscio et al.), 2010 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
5. [5] Long durations from symptom onset to diagnosis and from diagnosis to treatment in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A retrospective self-report study. PLOS ONE (Ziegler et al.), 2021 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. [6] The epidemiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Data from the Saudi National Mental Health Survey. Journal of Anxiety Disorders (Altwaijri et al.), 2024 sciencedirect.com.
7. [7] National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing, 2020-2022. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 5 October 2023 abs.gov.au.