Mental health is now measured at planetary scale, and the totals are staggering. More than a billion people live with a mental disorder, the conditions rank among the leading causes of disability on Earth, and the money spent addressing them is a rounding error in most national health budgets. Ranking countries and disorders against one another turns those abstractions into something you can actually compare — which conditions carry the heaviest load, which nations report the most, and where the gap between need and spending is widest.
Two reference points anchor almost every global figure. The World Health Organization’s fact sheets draw on the 2021 round of the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, while the newest estimates come from the GBD 2023 collaboration published in The Lancet and summarized by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). Where a country or regional number appears below, it is a modeled statistical estimate with real uncertainty — not a headcount of diagnosed cases — and the GBD “vintage” (2021 versus 2023) matters, because the two rounds use different reference years and methods. Our World in Data (OWID) is a presenter of IHME’s numbers, not an independent source, so those tables are attributed as “IHME, via Our World in Data.”
This article walks through the headline prevalence figures, the disability rankings, a breakdown of burden by disorder, the highest-burden countries, and the spending and treatment gap that ties it all together. For the underlying condition data, start with our any mental illness hub. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available — in the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available 24/7.
The Headline: Over a Billion People
The single most-cited global statistic is that nearly 1 in 7 people — about 1.1 billion — were living with a mental disorder in 2021, with anxiety and depressive disorders the most common (WHO, 2025, based on GBD 2021). That figure alone reframes mental illness as one of the defining health challenges of the era.
The most recent estimate is larger still. The GBD 2023 collaboration puts the number at 1.17 billion people living with a mental disorder in 2023, an age-standardized prevalence of roughly 14.2%, and reports a 95.5% increase in the number of prevalent cases since 1990 (IHME, 2026). Much of that rise reflects population growth and aging rather than a near-doubling of individual risk, and some of the increase in anxiety and depressive disorders stems from upward adjustments made for the COVID-19 era. As always, these are estimates built from surveys and statistical models, not verified case counts.
For context on the human toll beyond prevalence, suicide claimed roughly 727,000 lives in 2021 (WHO, 2025) — a reminder that the burden of these conditions is measured in lives as well as diagnoses.
The Disability Ranking: Now the Leading Cause
Where mental disorders truly dominate is disability. Burden is measured in disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which combine years of life lost to early death with years lived with disability (YLDs). In GBD 2023, mental disorders accounted for 171 million DALYs — 6.1% of all-cause DALYs — making them the 5th leading cause of global disease burden, up from 12th place in 1990 (IHME, 2026).
The disability-only picture is even more striking. Mental disorders are now the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide, explaining 17.3% of all-cause global YLDs in 2023, up from second place in 1990 (IHME, 2026). This is the current authoritative figure, and it supersedes older phrasings you may still encounter — including the “roughly 1 in 6 YLDs” framing from the 2022 World Mental Health Report (PAHO/WHO, 2022) and WHO’s description, drawn from GBD 2021, of mental disorders as the “second biggest” reason for disability (WHO, 2025). When you see those earlier characterizations, note the vintage: they predate the 2023 update.
Among all causes of disease burden, individual mental disorders rank as follows in GBD 2023: anxiety disorders 11th, major depressive disorder 15th, and schizophrenia 41st (IHME, 2026). Burden peaks in adolescence, at ages 15–19, and is higher in females than in males.
Burden by Disorder
Not all conditions carry equal weight. The table below shows the global DALY rate for each major mental disorder in 2023, expressed per 100,000 population. Note that this is a burden metric (DALYs), distinct from the prevalence percentages used elsewhere in this article — the two are not interchangeable.
| Disorder | DALYs per 100,000 (World, 2023) |
|---|---|
| Depressive disorders | 694.6 |
| Anxiety disorders | 686.5 |
| Schizophrenia | 210.2 |
| Bipolar disorder | 94.6 |
| Eating disorders | 47.5 |
Source: IHME, GBD 2023, via Our World in Data.
Depression and anxiety together account for the overwhelming majority of the disability load, which is why WHO’s flagship messaging centers on them. Schizophrenia affects far fewer people but carries a heavy per-person burden, and bipolar disorder and eating disorders round out the list. For deeper country-level breakdowns of the two largest contributors, see our companion pieces on depression rates by country and global anxiety statistics.
The Highest-Burden Countries
Ranking countries by total mental-disorder prevalence requires an important caveat: these are crude, all-ages estimates for 2023, and a high reported rate reflects screening intensity, survey methods, and demographics as much as underlying risk. The countries reporting the highest prevalence tend to be wealthy nations with extensive mental health awareness and help-seeking, not necessarily the countries where people suffer most.
| Highest total prevalence (crude, 2023) | Lowest total prevalence (crude, 2023) |
|---|---|
| Netherlands — 23.2% | Vietnam — 8.8% |
| Portugal — 22.3% | East Timor — 9.2% |
| Iran — 22.1% | Laos — 9.3% |
| United Kingdom — 22.0% | Indonesia — 10.0% |
| Australia — 21.7% | |
| Brazil — 21.3% |
Source: IHME, GBD 2023, via Our World in Data.
The disability burden tracks a similar spread. Measured in DALYs, the national range runs from about 1,302 per 100,000 in Vietnam (lowest) to roughly 3,556 per 100,000 in the Netherlands (highest) in GBD 2023 — a nearly threefold difference between the extremes.
Where does the United States sit? At an estimated 18.0% of the population with any mental disorder (crude, 2023), the U.S. is above the world figure of 14.5% but is not the highest among high-income countries — the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Australia all rank higher (IHME, via Our World in Data, 2023). This is a crucial interpretive point: higher measured prevalence in a given country partly reflects greater screening, awareness, and willingness to seek help. Cross-national survey work has repeatedly found that the highest-prevalence countries often report the lowest impairment, so a top ranking should never be read as simply “the most mentally ill.” We unpack that measurement puzzle in how U.S. mental health compares with other countries.
One further caution: because depression country data are typically age-standardized for 2023, anxiety country data are crude all-ages for 2021, and total-disorder data are crude all-ages for 2023, the three sets of rankings are not directly comparable. Always match the metric and the year before comparing absolute values across tables.
The Spending and Treatment Gap
If the burden numbers describe the problem, the spending numbers describe the response — and the mismatch is the real story. According to WHO’s 2025 assessment of world mental health and the Mental Health Atlas 2024, depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy roughly US$1 trillion per year, largely in lost productivity (WHO, 2025).
Against that trillion-dollar toll, investment remains minimal and deeply unequal.
| Indicator | Value |
|---|---|
| Median government spending on mental health | 2% of health budgets (unchanged since 2017) |
| Per-person spending, high-income countries | Up to US$65 |
| Per-person spending, low-income countries | As little as US$0.04 |
| Global median mental health workforce | 13 per 100,000 people |
| Affected people receiving care, low-income countries | Fewer than 10% |
| Affected people receiving care, higher-income countries | Over 50% |
Source: WHO, 2025 (World mental health today and Mental Health Atlas 2024).
The per-person contrast — up to US$65 in the wealthiest nations versus as little as four cents in the poorest — captures the equity problem in a single line. And even in well-resourced systems, coverage is far from complete: WHO estimates that only about one third of people with depression, and 29% of people with psychosis, receive formal care (WHO, 2025). The treatment gap is the through-line connecting the disability rankings to the spending rankings, and it explains why WHO frames scaling up services as urgent. For the U.S. side of that gap and how domestic treatment rates compare, see our overview of any mental illness and the U.S.-versus-other-countries analysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people in the world have a mental disorder?
WHO estimates that nearly 1 in 7 people — about 1.1 billion — were living with a mental disorder in 2021 (based on GBD 2021). The newest GBD 2023 estimate is higher, at 1.17 billion people in 2023, reflecting a 95.5% increase in prevalent cases since 1990 (IHME, 2026). Both figures are modeled estimates, not case counts.
Are mental disorders really the leading cause of disability?
Yes, by the most recent data. In GBD 2023, mental disorders were the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide, explaining 17.3% of all-cause YLDs — up from second place in 1990 (IHME, 2026). Older sources describing them as the “second biggest” cause of disability rely on the earlier GBD 2021 round.
Which country has the highest rate of mental disorders?
Among the highest reported in GBD 2023 (crude, all-ages) is the Netherlands at 23.2% of the population, followed by Portugal, Iran, the United Kingdom, and Australia (IHME, via Our World in Data). These are modeled estimates, and high rankings partly reflect stronger screening and help-seeking rather than simply more illness.
How much do countries spend on mental health?
The global median government spending on mental health is just 2% of health budgets, a share unchanged since 2017. High-income countries spend up to US$65 per person, while some low-income countries spend as little as US$0.04 — with a global median mental health workforce of 13 per 100,000 people (WHO, 2025).
Why is comparing mental health across countries so tricky?
Different tables use different metrics and years — depression figures are often age-standardized for 2023, anxiety figures crude for 2021, and total-disorder figures crude for 2023 — so absolute values are not directly comparable. Reported prevalence also reflects screening intensity and awareness, which is why the highest-prevalence countries frequently report the lowest impairment.
Sources
- World Health Organization. Mental disorders (fact sheet). WHO; 2025 (IHME GBD 2021). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-disorders
- World Health Organization. Over a billion people living with mental health conditions — services require urgent scale-up (news release; World mental health today and Mental Health Atlas 2024). WHO; 2025. https://www.who.int/news/item/02-09-2025-over-a-billion-people-living-with-mental-health-conditions-services-require-urgent-scale-up
- GBD 2023 Mental Disorders Collaborators. Updated trends in the global prevalence and burden of mental disorders, 1990–2023 (The Lancet). IHME summary; 2026. https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/library/updated-trends-global-prevalence-and-burden-mental-disorders-1990-2023
- Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Global mental disorders have nearly doubled since 1990 (news release). IHME; 2026. https://www.healthdata.org/news-events/newsroom/news-releases/global-mental-disorders-have-nearly-doubled-1990-now-affecting
- IHME, GBD 2023, presented by Our World in Data. Share of population with mental and substance use disorders. 2023. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-with-mental-and-substance-disorders
- IHME, GBD 2023, presented by Our World in Data. Burden of disease from each mental illness (DALYs). 2023. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/burden-disease-from-each-mental-illness
- Pan American Health Organization / WHO. WHO highlights urgent need to transform mental health (2022 World Mental Health Report). PAHO; 2022. https://www.paho.org/en/news/17-6-2022-who-highlights-urgent-need-transform-mental-health-and-mental-health-care