Prolonged grief disorder statistics

Prolonged grief disorder is grief that stays intense and disabling long after a death. The World Health Organization lists it in ICD-11 under code 6B42. The American Psychiatric Association added it to DSM-5-TR.

The two manuals set different rules. ICD-11 asks for grief that has lasted more than six months after the loss. DSM-5-TR asks for at least a year in adults and six months in children and adolescents, and it lists the symptoms differently. So a study's rate depends partly on which manual it used.

Most bereaved people do not develop the disorder. Each figure below names the people in the study, the criteria it used, the period it covers, and when we last checked it.

Reviews that pooled many studies

These reviews pooled the results of many separate studies of bereaved people. Studies that drew their samples at random found much lower rates than studies of volunteers.

• Pooling 34 samples from 16 countries, using DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 criteria, a cross-national review found an average rate of 13% among bereaved people. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹
• In the studies that drew their samples at random, the average rate was 5%. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹
• In the studies that recruited volunteers or other non-random samples, the average rate was 16%. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹
• Pooling 14 studies of adults bereaved by deaths that were not violent, a review found a rate of 9.8%, using definitions of prolonged grief from before the current ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR criteria. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2017, checked 9 Oct 2026) ²
• Pooling 25 studies of people bereaved by accidents, disasters, suicides or homicides, a review found a rate of 49%; the authors caution that the studies' methods differed widely. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2020, checked 13 Oct 2026) ³

North America

The United States figures come from one online survey of paid panel members, using screening questionnaires, and only the grief questionnaire follows DSM-5-TR. Panel members are not a random sample, and the survey recruited extra people bereaved by traumatic deaths, so read these as upper estimates.

• In an online panel survey in the United States in 2022 that over-sampled people bereaved by traumatic deaths, 20.4% of bereaved adults met screening criteria for prolonged grief disorder. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the same survey, 33.9% of the bereaved adults met screening criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the same survey, 30.2% of the bereaved adults met screening criteria for major depression. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴
• In the same survey, 28.8% of the bereaved adults met screening criteria for at least two of these three conditions at once. (survey, 2022 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁴

South America

Colombia's figures come from people forced from their homes by the armed conflict and interviewed face to face. They describe that group, not the whole country.

• Among people in Colombia displaced by the armed conflict who had lost someone to death, interviewed in 2012, 31.5% met criteria for prolonged grief disorder on an older research questionnaire not validated in Colombia. (survey, 2012 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁵
• Among displaced people whose relative or friend had disappeared, 23% met the same criteria. (survey, 2012 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁵

Europe

Germany's survey applied both manuals to the same people. It shows how much the choice of criteria, and counting everyone rather than only the bereaved, changes the number.

• In a representative survey in Germany, 4.2% of bereaved people met ICD-11 criteria for probable prolonged grief disorder. (survey published 2021, fieldwork year not stated, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁶
• Applying the DSM-5-TR criteria to the same people gave 3.3%. (survey published 2021, fieldwork year not stated, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁶
• Counting everyone in the survey, bereaved or not, the ICD-11 rate was 1.5%. (survey published 2021, fieldwork year not stated, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁶

Middle East

Israel's figure comes from a survey of bereaved adults in the general population. It used the ICD-11 guidelines.

• In a general-population survey in Israel, 2% of bereaved people met the ICD-11 symptom guidelines for prolonged grief disorder; the study did not measure the time since the loss. (survey published 2019, fieldwork year not stated, checked 13 Oct 2026) ⁷

Africa

The figures for South Africa, Kenya and Namibia come from one study of young adults who had lost someone. The researchers scored the answers strictly against ICD-11, and one looser scoring of the same answers gave much higher rates. The study did not exclude people bereaved less than six months earlier, as ICD-11 would, and the questionnaires were in English only. Rwanda's figure comes from genocide survivors who had lost a husband or a parent, interviewed at home.

• In a 2023 cohort study of bereaved young adults in South Africa, 6.85% had probable prolonged grief disorder on a strictly scored ICD-11 questionnaire; it did not exclude recent losses. (survey, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁸
• In a 2023 cohort study of bereaved young adults in Kenya, 9.63% had probable prolonged grief disorder on a strictly scored ICD-11 questionnaire; it did not exclude recent losses. (survey, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁸
• In a 2023 cohort study of bereaved young adults in Namibia, 5.34% had probable prolonged grief disorder on a strictly scored ICD-11 questionnaire; it did not exclude recent losses. (survey, 2023 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁸
• Among genocide survivors in Rwanda who had lost a husband or a parent, interviewed in 2007 about twelve years after their loss, 8.0% met an earlier research definition of prolonged grief disorder. (survey, 2007 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ⁹

Asia

China's figure pools many studies of bereaved people, most using older research criteria. Japan's figure measured complicated grief, an earlier name for a similar condition, with a short questionnaire.

• A review of studies in China, mostly using older research criteria, found a pooled rate of 8.9% among bereaved people, and rated the certainty of that evidence very low. (pooled from prevalence studies, published 2024, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹⁰
• In a community survey in Japan of adults aged forty to seventy-nine, 2.4% of those bereaved in the past ten years screened positive for complicated grief on a short questionnaire, not on diagnostic criteria. (survey published 2010, fieldwork year not stated, checked 13 Oct 2026) ¹¹

Oceania

Australia's figures come from a national study of refugees. They describe recent arrivals, not the general population.

• Among bereaved refugees resettled in Australia, surveyed in 2015-2016, 15.8% met ICD-11 criteria for probable prolonged grief disorder. (survey, 2015-2016 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹²
• Only 56.3% of the refugees with probable prolonged grief disorder had ever received psychological help in Australia. (survey, lifetime (ever), 2015-2016 data, checked 9 Oct 2026) ¹²

National figures side by side

These studies asked different groups different questions. Read each row with its label, and do not rank the countries.

How to read these figures

Most figures here count bereaved people, not the whole population. Germany's survey shows the difference: counting everyone, bereaved or not, gave a much lower rate.

Most studies used questionnaires that people filled in themselves. These point to a probable diagnosis. Only an assessment by a clinician can confirm one.

The people in a study matter as much as the country. Rates are higher after violent or sudden deaths. The figures for Colombia, Rwanda and Australia come from people who lived through armed conflict, genocide or forced migration. They describe those groups, not whole countries.

In Germany's survey, the ICD-11 rules counted more people than the DSM-5-TR rules did. The reviews pool studies that used either manual, or older criteria.

For most people, grief eases over time and does not need treatment. When it stays intense and disabling, the American Psychiatric Association reports that treatments based on cognitive behavioural therapy can reduce symptoms. A therapist can help you decide whether one suits you. Our guide on how to find the right therapist explains what to look for.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Prolonged grief disorder statistics. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/prolonged-grief-disorder-2025-statistics-by-therapyroute. Last updated 13 October 2026.

References

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5. [5] When hope and grief intersect: rates and risks of prolonged grief disorder among bereaved individuals and relatives of disappeared persons in Colombia. Journal of Affective Disorders (Heeke et al.), 1 March 2015 doi.org.
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7. [7] Prolonged grief disorder: Its co-occurrence with adjustment disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in a bereaved Israeli general-population sample. Journal of Affective Disorders (Killikelly et al.), 2019 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
8. [8] Prolonged grief in African contexts: Scale validation, prevalence rates and risk factors among young adults in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa. Global Mental Health (Killikelly et al.), 2026 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
9. [9] Rates and risks for prolonged grief disorder in a sample of orphaned and widowed genocide survivors. BMC Psychiatry (Schaal et al.), 2010 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
10. [10] Prevalence of prolonged grief disorder and its symptoms among bereaved individuals in China: a systematic review and meta-analysis. General Psychiatry (Yuan et al.), 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] Prevalence and determinants of complicated grief in general population. Journal of Affective Disorders (Fujisawa et al.), 2010 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] A population study of prolonged grief in refugees. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences (Bryant et al.), 2019 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.