Nearly one in seven people worldwide lives with a mental disorder, yet most never receive effective care, because mental health services remain underfunded, understaffed and concentrated in high-income countries.
Updated October 13, 2026. Written from the sources listed below, not independently peer-reviewed.
Out of every 100 people with major depression worldwide, how many received at least minimally adequate treatment in 2021?
1.2 billion
People living with a mental disorder
Nearly 1 in 7 people worldwide. Anxiety disorders (470 million people) and depression (322 million) are the most common. Modelled estimate that includes people who were never diagnosed.
Data year 2023. Source: World Health Organization, 2026
9.1%
People with major depression receiving minimally adequate treatment
27% in high-income countries, 2% in sub-Saharan Africa. Modelled estimate for 204 countries and territories.
Data year 2021. Source: Santomauro DF et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, 2024
2%
Share of government health spending on mental health
Global median, unchanged since 2017. Spending ranges from as little as US$ 0.04 per person in low-income countries to up to US$ 65 in high-income countries. Based on WHO's Mental Health Atlas survey of 144 countries.
Data year 2024. Source: World Health Organization, 2025
Unit: million people
Modelled estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023 (95% uncertainty ranges: 546–664 million in 1990, 1,060–1,310 million in 2023). Only these two reported values are plotted. Population growth explains part of the rise, but the age-standardised prevalence rate also increased, by 24.2%, between 1990 and 2023.
SDG target 3.4 aims to cut premature deaths from noncommunicable diseases by one third and to promote mental health and well-being by 2030. Its mental health indicator is the suicide mortality rate. WHO reports that the rate is falling too slowly to reach a one-third reduction: if the trend continues, it will fall by only 12% by 2030. An estimated 727,000 people died by suicide in 2021.
Mental disorders cause more health loss among women than among men, about 2,240 versus 1,900 age-standardised disability-adjusted life years per 100,000 people in 2023, and the burden is highest among young people aged 15 to 19.
Source: GBD 2023 Mental Disorder Collaborators, The Lancet, 2026In 2021 only 2.0% of people with major depression in sub-Saharan Africa received minimally adequate treatment, compared with 27.0% in high-income countries. In 90 countries, coverage was estimated to be below 5%.
Source: Santomauro DF et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, 2024Men with major depression were less likely than women to receive minimally adequate treatment in 2021: 7.2% compared with 10.2%.
Source: Santomauro DF et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, 2024In low-income countries fewer than 10% of people with psychosis receive care, compared with more than 50% in higher-income countries. Only 22 countries could provide enough data to estimate this coverage.
Source: World Health Organization, 2025Each country is shaded by its latest available value, so you can see where the gap is widest. Hover or tap a country, search for one, or open the full table.
Loading country values…
Self-reported answers from the Wellcome Global Monitor survey of 113 countries and territories. Values are the latest available per country; for this survey all are from 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not a clinical diagnosis, and differences between countries partly reflect stigma, language and willingness to talk about mental health, so the map is not a ranking of true prevalence. Modelled GBD prevalence estimates could not be used because their licence does not allow redistribution.
Source: Wellcome Global Monitor 2020 (Wellcome and Gallup), via Our World in Data. Latest year available per country; years differ.
Values load from Our World in Data. Simplified Natural Earth borders; they imply no position on disputed territories.
Instead of one “percent solved” score, DO GOOD rates three separate dimensions. A problem can have mature solutions that still reach too few people. These ratings are an editorial reading of the sources on this page, not a measured index.
Has the situation improved in the real world?
LowAbout 1.17 billion people were living with a mental disorder in 2023, nearly twice as many as in 1990. The age-standardised prevalence rate rose by 24.2% over the same period, so the increase is not only due to population growth, and mental disorders are now the leading cause of years lived with disability.
How mature and validated are the available solutions?
ModeratePsychological therapies and medicines help many people, and randomised trials show that trained lay workers can deliver brief psychological interventions with moderate benefits. But many people do not respond fully to current treatments, and evidence on how to prevent mental disorders is much thinner.
How widely are effective solutions actually used?
LowOnly 9.1% of people with major depression worldwide, and 2.0% in sub-Saharan Africa, received even minimally adequate treatment in 2021. In 90 countries coverage was estimated to be below 5%.
Prevalence figures are modelled estimates with wide uncertainty ranges, and primary data are scarce in many low- and middle-income countries. In WHO's 2024 survey, only 22 countries could provide enough data to estimate service coverage for psychosis.
Prevalence is rising and the median share of health budgets spent on mental health has not changed since 2017. At the same time, more than 80% of countries now offer mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies, up from 39% in 2020, and in 2025 governments adopted a political declaration with a target for expanding access to care.
Mental disorders, also called mental health conditions, involve a clinically significant disturbance in a person's thinking, emotional regulation or behaviour. In 2023 nearly one in seven people, about 1.2 billion, were living with one. Anxiety disorders (470 million people) and depression (322 million) are the most common; other conditions include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and eating disorders. Taken together, mental disorders were the leading cause of years lived with disability worldwide in 2023 and the fifth leading cause of overall health loss. Depression and anxiety alone cost the world economy an estimated US$ 1 trillion a year, mostly through lost productivity, and an estimated 727,000 people died by suicide in 2021.
Women carry a higher burden than men, and the burden peaks among young people aged 15 to 19. People exposed to poverty, violence, disability and inequality are at higher risk. Effective treatments exist, but most people never receive them: in 2021 only about 9% of people with major depression got even minimally adequate treatment (27% in high-income countries, 2% in sub-Saharan Africa). Governments spend a median of 2% of their health budgets on mental health, as little as US$ 0.04 per person in low-income countries. Where care exists, it is still often provided in psychiatric institutions, and many people face stigma, discrimination and violations of their rights.
Mental health covers a wide range of conditions and experiences. Global statistics rest on a few distinct measures:
Mental disorders and mental health conditions
WHO defines a mental disorder as a clinically significant disturbance in cognition, emotional regulation or behaviour, usually with distress or impaired functioning. 'Mental health condition' is a broader term that also covers psychosocial disabilities and other mental states linked to significant distress.
Modelled prevalence
Global counts come from the Global Burden of Disease study, which covers 12 categories of mental disorders and combines population surveys, health records and statistical models. It counts people whether or not they have ever been diagnosed, and every estimate carries an uncertainty range.
Treatment coverage
Access to care is measured as the share of people with a condition who receive it. For depression, 'minimally adequate treatment' means at least one month of medication plus four visits to a doctor, or at least eight sessions of psychotherapy with any professional.
Tracking in the SDGs
SDG target 3.4 includes promoting mental health and well-being, but its only mental health indicator is the suicide mortality rate. Separately, in a 2025 UN political declaration, governments committed to giving 150 million more people access to mental health care by 2030.
What works
Community health workers, nurses, volunteers and peers can learn to deliver short, structured psychological interventions under supervision, which extends care well beyond the small specialist workforce. In a trial in Nairobi, five sessions of WHO's Problem Management Plus, delivered by lay community health workers after eight days of training, reduced psychological distress more than enhanced usual care among 421 women who had experienced gender-based violence. The Friendship Bench in Zimbabwe, where trained lay health workers offer problem-solving therapy at primary care clinics, works on the same principle.
Limits
Benefits in trials were moderate and measured over a few months, and about a quarter of participants were lost to follow-up. Keeping quality high at scale requires ongoing supervision, referral routes for people with severe conditions, and paid, lasting roles for lay workers.
What works
WHO's mhGAP programme gives guidelines, tools and training so that general doctors, nurses and other non-specialist health workers can recognise and treat priority conditions such as depression, psychosis and epilepsy close to where people live.
Limits
Training alone does not guarantee care: health workers also need time, supervision, a reliable supply of medicines and specialists to refer to. Many countries meet only some of WHO's criteria for real integration of mental health into primary care.
What works
Community mental health teams, crisis services, supported housing and help with employment allow people to be treated while staying in their communities, and are the model of care set out in WHO's Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030.
Limits
Fewer than 10% of countries have fully made this transition. In psychiatric hospitals and units, nearly half of admissions are involuntary and more than 20% last longer than a year.
What works
Antidepressants, antipsychotics and mood stabilisers on WHO's Model List of Essential Medicines are available as low-cost generics and, often combined with psychological treatment, help many people with moderate to severe depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis.
Limits
Not everyone responds, side effects can make people stop treatment, and supply is unreliable in many low-income settings. Medicines also need prescribers and follow-up, which are scarce where the workforce is small.
What works
WHO's LIVE LIFE approach sets out four interventions with good evidence: limiting access to common means of suicide, working with the media on responsible reporting, building young people's social and emotional skills, and identifying, supporting and following up people at risk early.
Limits
Many countries have no national strategy or lack the cross-sector cooperation it requires, and weak death registration means that suicides are under-counted in many countries, making it hard to track what works.
Promising, but not proven at scale. The stage shows how far each approach has come; it is not a recommendation.
Step-by-Step, a WHO digital programme supported by brief contact with trained non-specialist helpers, reduced depression and improved functioning among Syrian refugees in Lebanon in a randomised trial, although many participants dropped out. Thailand launched a platform based on it in 2025. How well such programmes work outside trials and in other populations is still being studied.
WHO has developed group interventions such as Early Adolescent Skills for Emotions (EASE), delivered by trained non-specialists, that teach young adolescents and their caregivers skills to manage stress and low mood. Evidence of benefit from trials is still limited, and how to run such programmes through schools and community services at scale is not settled.
Chatbots and other AI tools are increasingly used for emotional support and to guide self-help exercises. A few early randomised trials have reported reductions in symptoms, but most tools have not been independently evaluated, and concerns remain about how they respond to people in crisis, about privacy, and about people relying on them instead of seeking care.
Some high-income countries have approved medicines that work differently from older drugs, including a nasal spray for treatment-resistant depression and a new type of medicine for schizophrenia, and psilocybin-assisted therapy is in late-stage trials. These treatments are expensive, long-term evidence is limited, and they are largely unavailable where most people with mental disorders live.
Implementation gap
Governments spend a median of 2% of their health budgets on mental health, a share that has not changed since 2017. Low-income countries spend as little as US$ 0.04 per person.
Implementation gap
The global median is 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people, with extreme shortages in low- and middle-income countries. Training, paying and keeping more workers takes years.
Coordination gap
Fewer than 10% of countries have fully moved to community-based care, and only 45% of the countries whose laws were evaluated fully comply with international human rights standards. Shifting money and staff out of psychiatric hospitals requires health, social, housing and justice services to plan together.
Implementation gap
Many people with mental health conditions experience stigma, discrimination and violations of their rights, which discourages them from seeking help and shapes how much priority politicians give to mental health.
Knowledge gap
WHO's 2024 survey drew on 144 countries, but only 22 could provide enough data to estimate service coverage for psychosis. Without routine data, governments cannot see who is being left out or whether services work.
Technology gap
Many people do not recover fully with current medicines or therapies, and there are no reliable biological tests to guide diagnosis or choose the best treatment for each person. The causes of most mental disorders are still only partly understood.
Unresolved questions, not vetted breakthroughs. Answering any of them would change what is possible.
How much of the increase in age-standardised prevalence reflects real changes, for example in social conditions, economic stress or the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how much reflects better measurement and greater willingness to report symptoms?
Can psychological interventions delivered by lay workers keep their benefits when run by routine health services across whole countries, over years rather than months, and with sustainable supervision and pay?
Which school, family, economic and community interventions actually reduce the number of people who develop anxiety, depression and other disorders, particularly among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries?
Which digital and AI-based tools improve mental health outcomes, for whom, and under what safeguards for people in crisis, privacy and links to human care?
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or thinking about suicide, contact a local crisis line or a health professional, or emergency services if someone is in immediate danger. findahelpline.com lists free, confidential helplines by country.
Courses in mental health first aid or psychological first aid teach how to notice when someone is struggling, listen without judgement and encourage them to seek help. Asking a friend how they are really doing is a simple start.
Use respectful language, speak up when people with mental health conditions are mocked or excluded, and, if you feel comfortable, share your own experience. Stigma is one of the main reasons people do not seek care.
Local organisations that offer counselling, peer support or helplines often rely on donations and volunteers. You can also ask your elected representatives how they will meet the 2025 international commitment to expand access to mental health care.
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World Health Organization, published 2026
WHO's current summary (dated 11 September 2026), based on Global Burden of Disease 2023 data. Source of the 2023 estimate of 1.2 billion people (nearly 1 in 7) living with a mental disorder, 470 million with anxiety disorders and 322 million with depression, WHO's definition of mental disorders, risk factors such as poverty, violence, disability and inequality, stigma and rights violations, and the mhGAP programme.
World Health Organization (news release, 2 September 2025), published 2025
Launch of two WHO reports, World mental health today: latest data and the Mental Health Atlas 2024 (survey of 144 countries). Source of the 727,000 suicide deaths in 2021 and the projected 12% reduction by 2030, the US$ 1 trillion annual cost of depression and anxiety, median spending of 2% of health budgets (unchanged since 2017, US$ 0.04 to US$ 65 per person), 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people, psychosis care coverage, community-based care, involuntary admissions, human rights compliance of laws and support in emergencies.
GBD 2023 Mental Disorder Collaborators, The Lancet (vol. 407, May 2026), published 2026
University of Glasgow repository record with the abstract of the Lancet article (DOI 10.1016/S0140-6736(26)00519-2); the accepted manuscript becomes openly available there on 22 November 2026. Source of the trend (599 million cases in 1990, Table 1; 1.17 billion in 2023), the 95.5% rise in cases and 24.2% rise in age-standardised prevalence, mental disorders as the leading cause of years lived with disability and fifth leading cause of DALYs, and the higher burden among women and people aged 15 to 19.
Santomauro DF et al., The Lancet Psychiatry, published 2024
Peer-reviewed modelling study cited by WHO for its depression treatment gap figures. Source of the global coverage of minimally adequate treatment (9.1%), regional and sex differences (27.0% in high-income locations, 2.0% in sub-Saharan Africa; 10.2% of women, 7.2% of men), the 90 countries below 5%, and the definition of minimally adequate treatment.
Bryant RA et al., PLOS Medicine, published 2017
Randomised trial of WHO's Problem Management Plus (PM+) delivered by lay community health workers in Nairobi. Source of the five-session format, eight days of training, the 421 participants, the moderate reduction in psychological distress at three months compared with enhanced usual care, and attrition of about a quarter.
World Health Organization (news release, 16 December 2025), published 2025
Adoption by the UN General Assembly of the political declaration from the fourth high-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases and mental health (25 September 2025), the first to address both together. Source of the 2030 target of 150 million more people with access to mental health care.