Global Estimates of Blindness and Visual Impairments

Vivek GuptaMay 29, 2024

Data from various global estiamates are summarized here for easy reference:

Link to my personal google sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iTgBmRA4VwWE1fzRKA1YD1fzzMvn90Vu/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=113111648583609130450&rtpof=true&sd=true

Pascolini, 2010

NUMBERS (millions)	World	India
Population	6737.90	1181.40
Visual Impairment ( PVA < 6\18)	285.39	62.62
Blindness (PVA < 3\60)	39.37	8.08
Low Vision (< 6\18-3\60)	246.02	54.54

PREVALENCE (1000 per million population)	World	India
Visual Impairment ( PVA < 6\18)	42.36	53.00
Blindness (PVA < 3\60)	5.84	6.84
Low Vision (< 6\18-3\60)	36.51	46.17

	2010	2010
	GLOBAL	GLOBAL
	Blindness PVA < 3\60	VI incl blindness (PVA <6\18)
Cataract	51%	33%
Refractive Errors (uncorrected)	3%	42%
Glaucoma	8%	2%
Corneal Opacity	4%	1%
Trachoma	3%	1%
Childhood Blindness	4%	1%
AMD	5%	1%
Diabetic Retinopathy	1%	1%
Other causes	21%	18%

Avoidable	62%	78%

Number of people visually impaired and corresponding percentage of the global impairment by WHO Region and country, 2010

Region	Population	Blindness (mill, %)	Low Vision (mill, %)	Visual Impairment (mill, %)
World	6737.5 (100)	39.365 (100)	246.024 (100)	285.389 (100)
India	1181.4 (17.5)	8.075 (20.5)	54.544 (22.2)	62.619 (21.9)
Afr	804.9 (11.9)	5.888 (15)	20.407 (8.3)	26.295 (9.2)
Amr	915.4 (13.6)	3.211(8)	23.401 (9.5)	26.612 (9.3)
Emr	580.2 (8.6)	4.918 (12.5)	18.581 (7.6)	23.499 (8.2)
Eur	889.2 (13.2)	2.713 (7)	25.502 (10.4)	28.215 (9.9)
Sear (India excluded)	579.1 (8.6)	3.974 (10.1)	23.938 (9.7)	27.913 (9.8)
Wpr (China excluded)	442.3 (6.6)	2.338 (6)	12.386 (5)	14.724 (5.2)
China	1344.9 (20)	8.248 (20.9)	67.264 (27.3)	75.512 (26.5)

World Health Organization. GLOBAL DATA ON VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS 2010 – Pascolini [Internet]. World Health Organization; 2012 [cited 2016 Apr 7]. Available from: http://www.iapb.org/sites/iapb.org/files/GLOBALDATAFINALforweb.pdf

Number of people visually impaired and corresponding percentage of the global impairment byAge, 2010

Age Group	Population	Blindness (mill)	Low Vision (mill)	Visual Impairment (mill)
0-14	1,848.50	1.421	17.518	18.939
15-49	3548.2	5.784	74.463	80.248
50 and older	1,340.80	32.16	154.043	186.2
Total	6,737.50	39.37	246.02	285.39

% of people visually impaired and corresponding percentage of the global impairment byAge, 2010

Age Group	Population	Blindness (mill)	Low Vision (mill)	Visual Impairment (mill)
0-14	27%	4%	7%	7%
15-49	53%	15%	30%	28%
50 and older	20%	82%	63%	65%
Total	100%	100%	100%	100%

GBD 2013

Bourne et al. Lancet Glob Health 2013;1: e339–49

Cause	Blindness				Moderate – Severe Visual Impairment
	Asia, south		Worldwide		Asia, south		Worldwide
	1990	2010	1990	2010	1990	2010	1990	2010
Cataract	47·7%	41·7%	38·6%	33·4%	26·7%	21·4%	25·6%	18·4%
Uncorrected refractive error	35·4%	36·0%	19·9%	20·9%	63·9%	65·4%	51·1%	52·9%
Macular degeneration	1·4%	2·6%	4·9%	6·6%	0·45%	1·0%	1·9%	3·1%
Glaucoma	2·4%	4·7%	4·4%	6·6%	0·66%	1·6%	1·2%	2·2%
Diabetic retinopathy	1·9%	2·8%	2·1%	2·6%	1·2%	2·1%	1·3%	1·9%
Trachoma	0·25%	0·15%	2·8%	1·4%	0·13%	0·08%	1·3%	0·71%
Other causes/ unidentified	10·9%	12·1%	27·4%	28·6%	7·0%	8·6%	17·6%	20·8%

Lancet 2017: Bourne et al and Flaxman et al papers – VLEG for year 2015

Key Results

Reported on Crude prevalence in all ages, age-standardied prevalence in 50+ population

Blind: 36 million (0.49% crude prevalence )
- 31 million (86%) aged 50+yrs
- 56% female
- 11.7 million in south Asia
MSVI: 216.6 Million (2.95% crude prevalence)
- 172.3 million (80%) aged 50+yrs
- 55% female
- 61.2 million in south Asia
Mild VI: 188.5 million (2.57% crude prevalence)
- 140.3 million (74%) age 50+
- 54% Female
Functional Prebyopia: 1094 million (35.6% crude prevalence) aged 35+ years

Crude Prevalence of blindness and moderate and severe vision impairment (%) in Year 2015

Million		Blind (millions)	MSVI (millions)	EVI/Mild VI (Millions)
Men	0–49 years	2.5	21.7	23.6
	50–69 years	5.7	41.6	39.7
	≥70 years	7.7	34.5	23.9
	All Ages	15.9	97.8	87.1
Women	0–49 years	2.6	22.7	24.6
	50–69 years	6.5	47.5	44.4
	≥70 years	11.1	48.7	32.5
	All Ages	20.1	118.9	101.4
Both Sex	All Ages	36.0	216.6	188.6

Million and Crude Prevalence		Blind	MSVI	Mild VI
Men	0–49 years	2.46 (0.08)	21.66 (0.74)	23.61 (0.81)
	50–69 years	5.69 (0.93)	41.57 (6.78)	39.65 (6.46)
	≥70 years	7.72 (4.55)	34.53 (20.33)	23.85 (14.05)
Women	0–49 years	2.56 (0.09)	22.68 (0.82)	24.64 (0.89)
	50–69 years	6.52 (1.03)	47.46 (7.48)	44.35 (6.99)
	≥70 years	11.06 (4.97)	48.71 (21.87)	32.45 (14.57)

Age Standardized Prevalence	World		India
Age Standardized Prevalence	Blind	MSVI	Blind	MSVI
All Ages
Male	0.46 (0.17 – 0.84)	2.79 (1.29 – 4.61)	0.88 (0.32 – 1.60)	4.41 (2.23 – 7.00)
Female	0.49 (0.17 – 0.90)	2.99 (1.33 – 4.99)	0.97 (0.33 – 1.80)	4.85 (2.38 – 7.73)
Both Sexes	0.48 (0.17 – 0.87)	2.90 (1.31 – 4.80)	0.93 (0.32 – 1.70)	4.63 (2.31 – 7.37)
50+ yr Age Group
Male	1.82 (0.67 – 3.28)	10.12 (4.85 – 16.45)	3.58 (1.30 – 6.50)	16.33 (8.59 – 25.45)
Female	1.91 (0.68 – 3.49)	10.79 (5.00 – 17.74)	3.94 (1.36 – 7.31)	17.88 (9.17 – 27.88)
Both Sexes	1.87 (0.67 – 3.39)	10.47 (4.93 – 17.13)	3.77 (1.33 – 6.92)	17.12 (8.89 – 26.69)

Percentage of Blindness & MSVI by cause in 50+ Age Group in South Asia and globally in 2015

	50+ Age Group
BLINDNESS in 50+	World, Blindness, 50+ yrs	South Asia, Blindness, 50+ yrs
Uncorrected refractive error	20.28%	35.54%
Cataract	35.15%	38.79%
Glaucoma	8.49%	5.93%
Age-related macular degeneration	5.93%	3.10%
Diabetic retinopathy	1.06%	0.10%
Corneal opacity	3.21%	3.91%
Trachoma	0.97%	0.20%
Other	24.92%	12.42%

MSVI in 50+	World, MSVI, 50+ yrs	South Asia, MSVI, 50+ yrs
Uncorrected refractive error	50.80%	52.34%
Cataract	26.62%	25.15%
Glaucoma	2.14%	2.05%
Age-related macular degeneration	5.97%	4.38%
Diabetic retinopathy	1.03%	1.30%
Corneal opacity	1.75%	1.14%
Trachoma	1.99%	0.64%
Other	9.71%	13.00%

Percentage of Blindness & MSVI by cause in All Age Groups in 2015 (Flaxman 2017)

Blindness in All Ages	World, Blindness, all ages	South Asia, Blindness, all ages
Uncorrected refractive error	20.6%	36.8%
Cataract	34.5%	35.2%
Glaucoma	8.3%	5.7%
Age-related macular degeneration	5.6%	2.4%
Diabetic retinopathy	1.1%	0.2%
Corneal opacity	3.5%	2.6%
Trachoma	1.0%	0.0%
Other	25.5%	16.7%

MSVI in All Ages	World, MSVI, all ages	South Asia, MSVI, all ages
Uncorrected refractive error	53.7%	67.9%
Cataract	24.1%	22.4%
Glaucoma	1.9%	1.1%
Age-related macular degeneration	4.0%	1.3%
Diabetic retinopathy	1.3%	0.2%
Corneal opacity	1.3%	0.9%
Trachoma	0.6%	0.0%
Other	13.2%	7.2%

Contribution of each cause to blindness among adults aged 50 years and older in 2015

2015	Uncorrected refractive error	Cataract	Glaucoma	Age-related macular degeneration	Diabetic retinopathy	Corneal opacity	Trachoma	Other
High-income Asia Pacific	13.1%	20.3%	13.5%	16.7%	3.9%	2.4%	0.0%	30.1%
Central Asia	12.9%	25.9%	14.2%	14.0%	3.6%	3.6%	0.0%	25.9%
East Asia	12.9%	43.6%	7.1%	5.3%	0.5%	4.3%	1.8%	24.6%
South Asia	36.4%	36.6%	5.8%	2.4%	0.2%	2.4%	0.0%	16.1%
Southeast Asia	12.6%	45.0%	7.0%	5.2%	0.6%	4.4%	0.1%	25.1%
Australasia	13.1%	19.7%	13.5%	16.5%	4.5%	2.4%	0.0%	30.4%
Caribbean	12.6%	25.7%	9.6%	5.6%	0.8%	1.7%	0.0%	44.0%
Central Europe	13.0%	25.4%	14.1%	15.9%	3.1%	3.6%	0.0%	24.9%
Eastern Europe	13.0%	20.9%	14.3%	19.5%	4.9%	3.4%	0.0%	23.9%
Western Europe	13.1%	21.4%	13.5%	15.4%	3.3%	2.4%	0.0%	30.8%
Andean Latin America	12.6%	27.5%	9.4%	3.8%	0.4%	1.6%	0.0%	44.7%
Central Latin America	12.7%	24.0%	10.0%	6.2%	1.0%	1.6%	0.0%	44.6%
Southern Latin America	13.0%	21.7%	13.6%	14.3%	3.5%	2.4%	0.0%	31.5%
Tropical Latin America	12.9%	21.9%	10.5%	7.4%	1.3%	1.5%	0.0%	44.5%
North Africa and Middle East	12.3%	28.1%	6.9%	3.2%	1.4%	4.5%	2.6%	41.0%
High-income North America	13.1%	20.1%	13.5%	15.9%	4.3%	2.4%	0.0%	30.8%
Oceania	12.6%	47.3%	6.7%	3.1%	0.3%	4.2%	0.0%	25.8%
Central sub-Saharan Africa	12.7%	43.6%	14.1%	5.2%	0.5%	4.0%	0.3%	19.6%
East sub-Saharan Africa	12.2%	44.7%	11.7%	3.2%	0.2%	3.8%	7.0%	17.3%
Southern sub-Saharan Africa	12.4%	35.2%	15.5%	11.8%	1.6%	4.1%	0.5%	19.1%
West sub-Saharan Africa	12.4%	43.6%	13.3%	4.0%	0.4%	3.9%	3.4%	19.2%
World	20.3%	35.2%	8.5%	5.9%	1.1%	3.2%	1.0%	24.9%

Contribution of each cause to MSVI among adults aged 50 years and older in 2015

2015	Uncorrected refractive error	Cataract	Glaucoma	Age-related macular degeneration	Diabetic retinopathy	Corneal opacity	Trachoma	Other
High-income Asia Pacific	49.4%	14.7%	3.6%	11.6%	4.1%	0.8%	0.0%	15.9%
Central Asia	48.3%	18.1%	4.1%	10.1%	4.1%	1.4%	0.0%	14.1%
East Asia	47.1%	32.5%	1.6%	3.4%	0.6%	1.5%	1.3%	12.0%
South Asia	66.4%	23.6%	1.1%	1.3%	0.2%	0.7%	0.0%	6.7%
Southeast Asia	46.1%	34.0%	1.6%	3.5%	0.7%	1.6%	0.1%	12.5%
Australasia	49.3%	14.1%	3.6%	11.4%	4.7%	0.8%	0.0%	16.2%
Caribbean	47.9%	18.1%	2.3%	3.8%	0.9%	0.5%	0.0%	26.6%
Central Europe	49.4%	18.2%	4.0%	10.9%	3.1%	1.4%	0.0%	13.1%
Eastern Europe	48.5%	14.8%	4.1%	13.4%	5.1%	1.3%	0.0%	12.7%
Western Europe	49.6%	15.5%	3.6%	10.7%	3.5%	0.8%	0.0%	16.4%
Andean Latin America	46.1%	20.2%	2.2%	2.4%	0.4%	0.5%	0.0%	28.1%
Central Latin America	47.9%	17.0%	2.3%	4.0%	1.0%	0.5%	0.0%	27.2%
Southern Latin America	48.2%	16.0%	3.7%	10.1%	3.9%	0.8%	0.0%	17.3%
Tropical Latin America	49.3%	15.3%	2.4%	4.7%	1.4%	0.5%	0.0%	26.5%
North Africa and Middle East	44.6%	21.4%	1.6%	2.2%	1.6%	1.7%	1.9%	25.1%
High-income North America	49.5%	14.4%	3.6%	10.9%	4.6%	0.8%	0.0%	16.3%
Oceania	47.8%	34.6%	1.4%	2.1%	0.3%	1.6%	0.0%	12.3%
Central sub-Saharan Africa	46.5%	34.4%	3.6%	3.4%	0.5%	1.6%	0.2%	9.8%
East sub-Saharan Africa	46.8%	32.4%	2.9%	2.4%	0.3%	1.4%	5.8%	8.2%
Southern sub-Saharan Africa	48.1%	26.9%	4.1%	8.0%	1.8%	1.5%	0.3%	9.3%
West sub-Saharan Africa	46.4%	34.1%	3.3%	2.5%	0.4%	1.5%	2.5%	9.4%
World	52.3%	25.2%	2.1%	4.4%	1.3%	1.1%	0.6%	13.0%

GBD 2020

Bourne et al 2022

Key Results

Reported on Crude prevalence in all ages, age-standardied prevalence in 50+ population in 2020

Blind: 43.3 million (0.55% crude prevalence, 0.525 % age Std Prevalence )
- 33.6 million / 78% in 50+yr aged population
- 55% female
- 11.9 million in south Asia, 0.895% Age Std Prevalence
MSVI: 295 Million (3.74% crude prevalence, 3.58% Age Std Prevalence )
- 206 million / 70% in 50+yr aged population
- 55% female
- 96.2 million in south Asia, 6.44% Age Std prevalence
- 260 million MVI, 34.8 million SVI
Mild VI: 258 million (3.27% crude prevalence, 3.2% Age Std Prevalence)
- 143 million / 55% in 50+yr aged population
- 55% Female
- 60.1 million in south Asia, 3.83% Age Std prevalence
Uncorrected Prebyopia: 510 million (6.46% crude prevalence 5.97% Age Std prevalence)
- 419 million / 82.2% in 50+yr aged population
- Crude prevalence 22.1% in 50+ population
- 55% Female
- 167 million in south Asia, 11.0% Age Std prevalence

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