WHO global estimates on
prevalence of hearing loss
Mortality and Burden of Diseases
and
Prevention of Blindness and Deafness
WHO, 2012
In 2012, WHO released new estimates on the magnitude of
disabling hearing loss. The estimates are based on 42
population-based studies.
Estimates are as follows:
• There are 360 million persons in the world with disabling hearing loss (5.3% of the world’s
population).
• 328 million (91%)of these are adults (183 million males, 145 million females)
• 32 (9%) million of these are children.
• The prevalence of disabling hearing loss in children is greatest in South Asia, Asia Pacific and
Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Approximately one-third of persons over 65 years are affected by disabling hearing loss.
• The prevalence of disabling hearing loss in adults over 65 years is highest in South Asia, Asia
Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Regions, are as identified by the Institute of Health Matrix and Evaluation’s 2010 GBD estimates
study.
Definition of disabling hearing loss
• Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss
greater than 40 dB in the better hearing ear in
adults (15 years or older) and greater than 30
dB in the better hearing ear in children (0 to
14 years).
Subregion
East Asia
Southeast Asia
Oceania
South Asia
Central Asia
Central Europe
Eastern Europe
North Africa and Middle East
Central Africa
East Africa
Southern Africa
West Africa
Andean Latin America
Central Latin America
Southern Latin America
Tropical Latin America
Caribbean
Asia-Pacific
Australasia
North America
Western Europe
Details of Selected Regions
Countries
East Asia region
China, Hong Kong SAR (China), Macau SAR (China), Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Taiwan.
Asia Pacific region
Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines, Sri Lanka,
Thailand, Timor-Leste, Viet Nam.
Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Papua
New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Niue.
South Asia region
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan
Central / Eastern Europe and Central Asia region
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia,
Slovakia, Slovenia, Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of).
Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine.
Middle East and North Africa region
Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco,
Occupied Palestinian Territory, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates, Yemen.
Sub-Saharan Africa region
Angola, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon.
Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda,
Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia,
Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, Togo.
Latin America and Caribbean region
Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru.
Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Venezuela (Bolivarian Rep. of).
Argentina, Chile, Uruguay.
Brazil, Paraguay.
Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican
Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
High-income region
Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore.
Australia, New Zealand.
Canada, United States of America.
Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Monaco and San Marino.
Data sources
Indicator
Source
Hearing Loss Estimates MBD: All degrees of hearing loss for adults
and children
WHO, 2012 Hearing Loss estimates
Population 2008 Estimates
*UNDP 2010 World Population Prospects
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US $ Dollars)
**Worldbank Database 2008
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)
**Worldbank Database 2009
*UNDP WPP available at: http://www.un.org/esa/population/
**Worldbank database available at: http://data.worldbank.org/
Prevalence of hearing loss: WHO global
estimates
Males: 183m.
56%
*Children: 32m
9%
*Adults: 328 m.
91%
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates; DHL adults (15+ years) threshold
is ≥41 dB and children threshold is ≥31 dB.
Females: 145m.
44%
Disabling hearing loss is unequally distributed
across the world
East Asia
22%
High-income
11%
Latin America &
Caribbean
9%
Asia Pacific
10%
Central/East Europe
and Central Asia
9%
Sub-Saharan Africa
9%
Middle East and
North Africa
3%
South Asia
27%
MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates; DHL adult threshold is ≥41 dB, adults of 15 years or older.
Selected Regions
High-income
Central/Eastern Europe and
Central Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Middle East and North Africa
South Asia
Asia Pacific
Latin America and Caribbean
East Asia
World
DHL in children
Both sexes
prevalence
millions
(%)
0.8
0.5
1.1
6.8
1.2
12.3
3.4
2.6
3.6
31.9
1.6
1.9
0.9
2.4
2.0
1.6
1.3
1.7
DHL in adults
Males
prevalence
millions
(%)
19
4.9
14
17
6
52
19
15
41
183
9.0
7.4
4.1
9.5
8.7
7.6
7.4
7.5
Females
prevalence
millions
(%)
18
4.4
16
13
4
36
15
13
30
145
8.8
5.5
2.9
7.0
6.8
6.0
5.6
5.9
MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates
Prevalence of disabling hearing loss in some regions is
nearly double that of the high income region.
Prevalence of disabling hearing loss for adults by
region:
10%
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for adults
9%
8%
7%
6%
5%
4%
3%
2%
1%
0%
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for adults 15+ years old
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for males 15+ years old
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for females 15+ years old
*MBD, WHO , 2012, DHL estimates, where DHL adult threshold is ≥41 dB HL
Prevalence of disabling hearing loss in children:
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss
3%
2%
1%
0%
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates, where DHL children threshold is ≥31 dB
The prevalence for disabling hearing loss in children is highest in the south Asia region followed by SubSaharan Africa. There is a marked difference in the prevalence rates in high income parts of the world.
Approximately 15% of the
world's adult population
has some degree of
hearing loss. About one
third of those who are
affected, have disabling
hearing loss.
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for adults
(15 years or older)
Prevalence of hearing loss for adults by degree of
hearing loss:
18.0%
16.0%
14.0%
12.0%
10.0%
8.0%
6.0%
4.0%
2.0%
0.0%
Slight impairment (26-40dB)
Moderate impairment (41-60dB)
Severe impairment (61-80dB)
Profound impairment (>80dB)
* MBD, WHO, 2011 DHL estimates, where DHL adult threshold is ≥41 dB.
Prevalence of disabling hearing loss for children, adults:
15 years or older, and 65 years or older:
50%
The prevalence increases
with age, i.e. prevalence in
children is 1.7%, in adults
aged 15 years or more, it is
around 7%, rapidly
increasing to almost one in
three in adults older than
65 years.
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Prevalence of DHL for children until 14 years old (per 100 children)
Prevalence of DHL for adults 15 years or older (per 100 populuation)
Prevalence of DHL for adults 65 years or older (per 100 population)
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates, where DHL adult threshold is ≥41 dB
and children threshold is ≥31 dB (children 0 until 14 years old).
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children versus average
GNI per capita:*
4%
South Asia: 2.4%
Asia Pacific: 2%
2%
S-Sahara Africa:
1.9% Latin America and
Caribbean: 1.6%
Cent/East Europe
and Cent Asia1.6%
2%
East Asia: 1.3%
1%
y = 0.0266x-0.334
Middle East and
North Africa: 0.92%
High Income: 0.5%
1%
Average GNI per capita (thousands US Dollars)
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children until 14 years old
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates,
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
0%
5
*GNI per capita: gross national
income per capita
3%
-
______________________
3%
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children
In children,
prevalence decreases
exponentially as GNI
increases.
In adults of 65
years and older
prevalence
decreases
exponentially as
income increases.
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss (adults 65+)
Prevalence of disabling hearing loss for adults (65 years or older)
versus average GNI per capita:*
60%
South Asia: 48%
50%
S-Sahara Africa: 44%
Asia Pacific: 43.5%
Latin America and
Caribbean: 39%
Cent/East Europe and
Cent Asia 36%
40%
30%
East Asia: 34%
y = 0.5212x-0.208
Middle East and
North Africa: 26%
20%
High Income: 18%
10%
_____________________
*GNI per capita: gross national
income per capita
Average GNI per capita (thousands US Dollars)
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for adults over 65 years old
Power (Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for adults over 65 years old)
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
-
0%
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children versus average
parent's literacy rate:
30%
25%
South Asia: 2.47%
S-Sahara Africa: 2%
20%
y = -0.002x + 0.3291
Asia Pacific: 2.10%
Latin America and
Cent/East Europe
Caribbean: 1.7%
and Cent Asia1.6%
15%
East Asia
10%
Middle East and
North Africa: 0.95%
5%
Average Parent's Literacy rate (% of population of 15 or more years old)
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children until 14 years old
Linear (Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children until 14 years old)
*MBD, WHO, 2012 DHL estimates, where DHL children threshold is ≥31 dB.
100
95
90
85
80
75
70
65
60
55
0%
50
Prevalence of Disabling Hearing Loss for children
In most regions,
prevalence in children
decreases linearly as
parent's literacy rate
increases.