Research on aging, dementia and care in later life · free to read and cite

Research library

Dementia & Health: A Global Research Library

Open, fully-sourced research on dementia around the world: diagnosis, health and hospital care, care and support, carers and inequalities. Free to cite.

For dementia charities, carers' organisations & alzheimer's support groups

Link to, cite and reuse anything here, including the charts. Every figure is sourced. Need the numbers as a spreadsheet? Get in touch.

People living with dementia, and the families and friends who care for them, deserve services that recognise dementia early, support people well after diagnosis and treat them with dignity in hospital, at home and in care. Where that does not happen, the gap is in recognition, support and care, not in the person, and the evidence can show where it lies and how it can close.

This library brings together what national statistics, published research and dementia and carers' organisations have found around the world, in one place. Every figure is checked against its original source and cited, so charities, carers' groups, campaigners, clinicians and journalists can use it with confidence.

6 studies

Diagnosis & prevalence

Diagnosis & prevalence 57 Million and Rising: How Many People Live With Dementia, Now and in Future WHO estimates 57 million people lived with dementia in 2021. How estimates and projections are made, and why falling age-specific risk matters. With sources. Read the study Diagnosis & prevalence Most People With Dementia Worldwide Have No Diagnosis: The Global Gap Among countries reporting to WHO in 2024, the median dementia diagnostic rate was 26%, and 6% in low- and middle-income countries. Where the gap is and why. With sources. Read the study Diagnosis & prevalence Young-Onset Dementia: 3.9 Million of Working Age, and Years to a Diagnosis An estimated 3.9 million people aged 30-64 live with young-onset dementia worldwide. How common it is, its causes, diagnosis delays, work and survival. With sources. Read the study Diagnosis & prevalence How Countries Count Dementia, and Why Their Figures Don't Line Up Applying six diagnostic definitions to the same older people gave dementia rates from 3.1% to 29.1%. How registers, claims and surveys count dementia. With sources. Read the study Diagnosis & prevalence Which Dementia? Many Diagnoses Never Name the Type Half of England's dementia death certificates in 2013-2023 named no type. How often dementia goes unspecified, who is left without a named type, and why it matters. With sources. Read the study Diagnosis & prevalence Three and a Half Years to a Dementia Diagnosis: Where the Time Goes Pooled studies put the average from first dementia symptoms to diagnosis at 3.5 years. How long people wait in different countries, where the time goes, and who waits longest. With sources. Read the study
6 studies

Health & hospital care

Health & hospital care Antipsychotics and Dementia: A Last Resort Still Prescribed to Many From 8.6% in England to over 20% in Denmark, Spain and Taiwan: antipsychotic use in dementia across countries, COVID-19 rises and what guidelines say. With sources. Read the study Health & hospital care Dementia and COVID-19: Who Died, Where, and What the Death Counts Missed Dementia was the main pre-existing condition in 25.6% of deaths involving COVID-19 in England and Wales, March–June 2020. Care-home and excess deaths across countries. With sources. Read the study Health & hospital care Half of People With Dementia in Hospital Have Delirium, Often Missed About half of older people with dementia in hospital also have delirium, often missed in emergency departments. Avoidable admissions, short stays and guidance. With sources. Read the study Health & hospital care Twice the Risk: Falls and Hip Fractures Among People With Dementia Dementia is linked to double the risk of falls and injuries; in Sweden 39% of people with dementia died within a year of hip fracture surgery, against 20%. With sources. Read the study Health & hospital care Hearing and Sight in Dementia: Common, Often Missed, Mostly Treatable In the US, 79.4% of people with dementia aged 71+ have hearing loss; 21.7% of them use hearing aids. What the evidence shows on risk, treatment and care. With sources. Read the study Health & hospital care Admitted More Often, Waiting Longer to Leave: Dementia in Hospital People with dementia living in the community have 1.42 times the risk of hospital admission, stay longer and wait far more often for care to leave. Evidence from many countries. With sources. Read the study
7 studies

Care & support

Care & support In Many Countries, Most Care-Home Residents Live With Dementia In countries with data, most care-home residents live with dementia: 69% in Canada, 87% in a Taiwan survey. Diagnosis gaps, specialist units, staffing and quality. With sources. Read the study Care & support End of Life With Dementia: Where People Die Varies Widely Between Countries Hospital deaths with dementia ranged from 3% to 46% across five European countries. Place of death, palliative care and planning ahead, worldwide. With sources. Read the study Care & support After the Diagnosis: The Gap in Post-Diagnostic Dementia Support 58% of people with dementia in ADI's 2022 global survey had no named professional after diagnosis. What guidance promises, what countries deliver, and what works. With sources. Read the study Care & support Who Pays for Dementia Care? Only 16% of the Cost Is Medical Care Of dementia's estimated US$1.3 trillion global cost in 2019, 16% was medical care. How the rest divides, and how countries' care systems decide who pays. With sources. Read the study Care & support Dementia Training Reaches Too Few of the Workers Who Give the Care Dementia care training is recorded for 38% of England's social care workers; nursing staff turnover in US nursing homes averages about 128% a year. What works in training. With sources. Read the study Care & support Dementia-Friendly Communities Have Spread Faster Than the Evidence Japan has trained 17.2 million dementia supporters, yet one 2023 review found just 4 impact studies of dementia-friendly initiatives. What exists, what works. With sources. Read the study Care & support Living Alone With Dementia: Four in Ten in England, and the Support Gaps In England 40% of people with a dementia diagnosis outside care homes live alone. How many live alone worldwide, and the gaps in diagnosis and care they face. With sources. Read the study
2 studies

Carers

Carers Half of All Dementia Care Is Unpaid: The Carers Behind the Figures Unpaid care was about half the US$1.3 trillion global cost of dementia in 2019. Who carers are, the hours they give, and the support that reaches them. With sources. Read the study Carers Dementia Carers' Health: Depression in About a Third, and Support Too Thin About 31% of dementia carers have depression and 32% anxiety in pooled studies; distress rises with hours of care. What protects carers' health. With sources. Read the study
6 studies

Inequalities

Inequalities Unequal Risk, Later Diagnosis: Dementia Across Ethnic and Racialised Groups Dementia rates are higher among Black, Indigenous and several migrant groups in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands, yet diagnosis often comes later. With sources. Read the study Inequalities Dementia Comes Early for People with Down Syndrome, and Is Often Missed In Down syndrome, Alzheimer's dementia is diagnosed at a median age of 53.7. Risk, deaths, diagnostic overshadowing and baseline assessment across countries. With sources. Read the study Inequalities Unequal From Risk to Diagnosis: Dementia and Socioeconomic Disadvantage Low socioeconomic status is linked to 1.4 times the risk of dementia, later diagnosis and earlier death, in studies across Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With sources. Read the study Inequalities Further from Help: Dementia in Rural and Remote Communities In India, an estimated 8.4% of rural and 5.3% of urban adults 60+ live with dementia. Diagnosis, specialist access, care homes, carers and telehealth across countries. With sources. Read the study Inequalities LGBTQ+ Older People and Dementia: More Memory Problems, Far Too Little Data In 25 US states, 15.7% of sexual and gender minority adults aged 45+ reported subjective cognitive decline, against 10.5% of others; no country we found records it in dementia data. With sources. Read the study Inequalities Where You Live Matters: Regional Gaps in Dementia Diagnosis and Care England's dementia diagnosis rate ranged from 53.7% to 92.6% across local NHS areas in 2026, and the likelihood of a US diagnosis varies twofold by region. With sources. Read the study
6 studies

Understanding the evidence

Understanding the evidence Around 45% of Dementia Linked to Modifiable Risks: What the Lancet Figure Means The Lancet Commission links about 45% of dementia to 14 modifiable risks: a modelled potential, highest in poorer countries and communities. With sources. Read the study Understanding the evidence Dementia Across Countries: Where You Live Shapes Diagnosis, Drugs and Support In 2024 the median dementia diagnostic rate was 62% in reporting high-income countries and 6% in low- and middle-income ones. Countries compared, caveats attached. With sources. Read the study Understanding the evidence Dementia as a Leading Cause of Death: What the Rankings Show and Miss WHO ranks dementia the fifth leading cause of death worldwide in 2023, with 2.1 million deaths. How countries count it, and what death certificates miss. With sources. Read the study Understanding the evidence New Alzheimer's Drugs Slow Decline a Little: What Trials and Regulators Found Lecanemab and donanemab slowed early Alzheimer's decline by under one point on an 18-point scale. Trials, side effects, approvals and who is eligible. With sources. Read the study Understanding the evidence Dementia Research Funding: Rising in a Few Rich Countries, Short of the Need US NIH dementia research funding rose from $631m in 2015 to $3.88bn in 2025, but the UK gave dementia 8p per £10 of care costs in 2012. With sources. Read the study Understanding the evidence Dementia Worldwide: 57 Million People and the Gaps in Their Care WHO estimates 57 million people lived with dementia in 2021. What the global evidence shows on diagnosis, care, carers, inequalities and deaths. With sources. Read the study