Digital mental health care: statistics on telehealth, apps and online therapy

Digital mental health care covers several different things. Therapy by video or phone is one. Guided internet programmes that follow a therapy protocol are another. Then come self-help apps and chatbots.

The evidence behind them is uneven. Some forms have many trials behind them, and others have very few. So is the supply of clinicians that these tools aim to stretch.

Three questions run through the figures below. How many people get mental health care at a distance? What do trials show? How short is the workforce? Each figure names its group, its measure and its source.

Worldwide: the workforce gap

One hope for digital care is that it can stretch a short workforce. The World Health Organization's Mental Health Atlas counts the mental health workforce that countries report. WHO reports extreme shortages in low- and middle-income countries.

• Across the countries reporting to the WHO Mental Health Atlas in 2024, the median mental health workforce was 13 per 100,000 people. (2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁴

Worldwide: what the trials show

These figures come from reviews that pool randomised trials. An effect size compares the change in one group with the change in another; it is not a share of people. A result near zero means the two groups ended up about the same on average. Guided means a clinician or trained supporter stays in contact. The review of guided internet CBT is older, and its authors note there are still few trials for each condition.

• For adult outpatients with PTSD, mood disorders or anxiety disorders, a review of trials found psychiatric treatment by video comparable with in-person treatment (standardised mean difference -0.01). (meta-analysis of trials, published 2023, checked 10 Oct 2026) ²
• Among adults with psychiatric or physical conditions, a review of trials found that guided internet CBT and face-to-face CBT gave similar results at the end of treatment (Hedges' g -0.01). (meta-analysis of trials, published 2014, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁵
• In randomised trials of smartphone apps, a review found a small effect on depressive symptoms compared with control groups (Hedges' g 0.28). (meta-analysis of trials, published 2024, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³
• In randomised trials of smartphone apps, a review found a small effect on generalised anxiety symptoms compared with control groups (Hedges' g 0.26). (meta-analysis of trials, published 2024, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³
• For depressive symptoms in randomised trials of smartphone apps, the number of people who needed to use an app for one extra person to benefit was 11.5. (meta-analysis of trials, published 2024, checked 10 Oct 2026) ³
• In randomised trials of AI-based chatbots, a review found a reduction in symptoms of depression compared with control conditions (Hedges' g 0.64), with a wide confidence interval. (meta-analysis of trials, published 2023, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁶

North America

The United States figures come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a national household survey. Telehealth here is one of several ways people received mental health treatment, and people could report more than one.

• In the United States in 2024, 12.8% of adults aged eighteen and over received mental health treatment by telehealth in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• In the United States in 2024, 32.6% of adults with any mental illness in the past year received mental health treatment by telehealth. (survey, past 12 months, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹
• In the United States in 2024, 13.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 received mental health treatment by telehealth in the past year. (survey, past 12 months, 2024 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹

Europe

Eurostat's survey of internet use in households asks about health services in general, not mental health care specifically. These figures cover all health care, not mental health alone.

• In the European Union in 2022, 18% of people aged sixteen to seventy-four used a website or app for health services instead of visiting a hospital or doctor in the past three months. (survey, 2022 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁷
• In the European Union in 2022, 33% of people aged sixteen to seventy-four made an appointment with a health practitioner through a website in the past three months. (survey, 2022 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁷

Oceania

Australia's figures come from the Patient Experience Survey run by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Telehealth means an appointment by phone, video or another technology.

• In Australia in 2024-25, 17.3% of people aged fifteen and over saw at least one health professional for their own mental health. (survey, past 12 months, 2024-25 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸
• In Australia in 2024-25, 22.5% of people aged fifteen and over had at least one telehealth consultation for their own health, for any health reason. (survey, past 12 months, 2024-25 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸
• The share of people aged fifteen and over in Australia with at least one telehealth consultation for their own health peaked at 30.8% in 2021-22. (survey, past 12 months, 2021-22 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁸

Asia

India runs Tele-MANAS, a free national tele-mental-health service. It began on World Mental Health Day and now offers a mobile app as well as calls. The count below is the programme's own, not from an independent audit.

• By March 2026, India's free national tele-mental-health service, Tele-MANAS, had handled nearly 3.43 million calls, according to an editorial by clinicians at NIMHANS, the institute that helped develop and coordinate it. (2026 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ⁹

Africa

No national survey of digital mental health care in Africa turned up in our search. The figure below comes from one pilot trial in rural South Africa. The app came with phone support from trained peer mentors. Most young people stayed with it, but in this preliminary test it did not reduce depression more than a comparison app.

• In a pilot randomised trial among adolescents with depressive symptoms in rural South Africa, 80.2% of those given a behavioural activation app completed at least four of its six modules. (randomised trial, 2022 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹⁰

Middle East

Step-by-Step is a guided digital programme for depression developed by the World Health Organization with partners. Trained helpers who are not mental health specialists support each user. Lebanon's National Mental Health Programme helped recruit for the trial. More than half of those offered the programme did not return follow-up questionnaires.

• In a randomised trial among displaced Syrians with depression in Lebanon, the WHO guided digital programme Step-by-Step reduced depression compared with enhanced usual care (standardised mean difference 0.48). (randomised trial, 2019-2020 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹¹

South America

This trial in Colombia compared a guided internet programme with a waiting list. A waiting list is a weak comparison, so effects can look larger than against usual care. About four in five of those given the programme gave no end-of-treatment data, so the result rests on the small group who stayed.

• Among college students with depressive symptoms in Colombia, guided internet CBT reduced symptoms against a waiting list (Cohen's d 0.91), but most of the programme group gave no end-of-treatment data. (randomised trial, 2016-2017 data, checked 10 Oct 2026) ¹²

What trials of digital care found

Each row compares a digital form of care with something else. The comparisons differ, so read each row with its label and do not rank them. The figures are effect sizes (standardised mean differences, Hedges' g or Cohen's d), not shares of people.

How to read these figures

An effect size from a trial is not the share of people who got better. It shows how far apart two groups ended up, in standard units.

A result close to zero against face-to-face care means the two did about equally well. It does not mean the digital form helped nobody.

Telehealth figures from surveys count people who used it at least once. They do not say how much of their care was remote.

Many trials lose a large share of participants before the end. A programme can help those who finish and still lose many of its users.

The trials support two forms most clearly: therapy with a clinician by video, and guided internet programmes, though the authors of the review of guided programmes note that there are few trials for each condition. Apps showed a small effect against control groups, and the chatbot result is less certain because its confidence interval is wide. None of them replaces an assessment of what is actually wrong. If a digital programme has not helped, a therapist may be able to help. 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. Digital mental health care: statistics on telehealth, apps and online therapy. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/the-future-of-mental-health-treatment-2025-statistics-on-digital-innovation-by-therapyroute. Last updated 10 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Key Substance Use and Mental Health Indicators in the United States: Results from the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (US), July 2025 samhsa.gov.
2. [2] Psychiatric Treatment Conducted via Telemedicine Versus In-Person Modality in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Mood Disorders, and Anxiety Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JMIR Mental Health (Shaker et al.), 5 July 2023 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
3. [3] Current evidence on the efficacy of mental health smartphone apps for symptoms of depression and anxiety. A meta-analysis of 176 randomized controlled trials. World Psychiatry (Linardon et al.), February 2024 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
4. [4] WHO releases new reports and estimates highlighting urgent gaps in mental health. World Health Organization, 2 September 2025 who.int.
5. [5] Guided Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis. World Psychiatry (Andersson et al.), October 2014 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. [6] Systematic review and meta-analysis of AI-based conversational agents for promoting mental health and well-being. npj Digital Medicine (Li et al.), 19 December 2023 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
7. [7] What did we use the internet for in 2022? Eurostat, 15 December 2022 ec.europa.eu.
8. [8] Patient Experiences, 2024-25. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 18 November 2025 abs.gov.au.
9. [9] India's Tele-MANAS: evolution, early outcomes and a scalable blueprint for digital public mental health. The British Journal of Psychiatry (Suhas et al.), 17 July 2026 cambridge.org.
10. [10] A Behavioral Activation Digital Intervention Incorporating Gamification and Peer Support for Adolescent Depression in Rural South Africa: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial (the DoBAt Study). JAACAP Open (Moffett et al.), December 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] Effects of a WHO-guided digital health intervention for depression in Syrian refugees in Lebanon: A randomized controlled trial. PLOS Medicine (Cuijpers et al.), June 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] A Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Internet-Delivered Intervention for Depressive Symptoms: Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Mental Health (Salamanca-Sanabria et al.), 31 January 2020 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.