Prevalence of dementia in Europe

Europe's population is growing older. According to EuroStat figures, more than one fifth of the EU population was aged 65 or over in 2020, which represents an increase of 3% compared to 2010. Life expectancy is also increasing in Europe, rising from an average of 77.7 years for someone born in 2002, to 81.3 years for someone born in 2019.

Is the number of people living with dementia increasing?

As the primary risk factor for dementia is age, the continued increase in life expectancy and population ageing also increases the likelihood of people developing the condition. Over the last three decades, a number of significant pieces of work have been undertaken at a European level to estimate the prevalence of dementia. These include the EURODEM study (updated in 2000), the European Collaboration on Dementia (EuroCoDe; 2006 - 2008) and the first EU Joint Action on Dementia - ALCOVE (2011-2013). 

Accurate, up-to-date knowledge about the prevalence of dementia is essential for research, health and social policymaking. In 2019, we provided an update on the estimated prevalence and incidence rates of people with dementia, following the methodology used in the EuroCoDe project.

These estimates were published in our 2019 Yearbook, entitled "Estimating the prevalence of dementia in Europe". The key findings of the Yearbook are as follows:

  • Across men and women and across most age groups, there has been a reduction in the prevalence of dementia over the past ten years when compared to 2008 estimates.
  • The number of people living with dementia in the European Union (EU27) is estimated to be 7,853,705 and in European countries represented by AE members, 9,780,678. Compared to its earlier estimates, this constitutes a significant reduction from 8,785,645 for the EU27 and from 10,935,444 for the broader European region.
  • Women continue to be disproportionately affected by dementia with 6,650,228 women and 3,130,449 men living with dementia in Europe.
  • The numbers of people with dementia in Europe will almost double by 2050 increasing to 14,298,671 in the European Union and 18,846,286 in the wider European region.

On this page, you will be able to find dementia prevalence rates by age and sex, and country-by-country estimates of dementia prevalence.

Prevalence of dementia in Europe, by age and sex

The table below provides an overview of the prevalence rates for 2018, calculated for each age range and presented as a percentage for the overall population and broken down by sex. 

Age range Overall prevalence Prevalence in females Prevalence in males
60-64 0.6% 0.9% 0.2%
65-69 1.3% 1.5% 1.1%
70-74 3.3% 3.4% 3.1%
75-79 8% 8.9% 7%
80-84 12.1% 13.1% 10.7%
85-89 21.9% 24.9% 16.3%
90+ 40.8% 44.8% 29.7%
Prevalence of dementia in Europe, by country 

In this section, we show the estimated prevalence of dementia in different countries, in 2018 and 2050. The 2050 estimates are calculated based on future population projections, taken from the United Nation's World Population Prospects data.

EU28 countries
Country Men Women Total  % of population in 2018 % of population in 2050

Austria

46,537 100,263 146,801 1.66 3.18
Belgium 61,173 131,753 192,926 1.69 2.95
Bulgaria 34,290 74,594 108,884 1.54 2.47
Croatia 19,535 46,341 65,876 1.60 3.06
Cyprus 3,744 6,345 10,088 1.17 2.44
Czech Republic 46,338 103,295 149,633 1.41 2.65
Denmark 30,228 57,148 87,377 1.51 2.65
Estonia 5,375 17,567 22,942 1.74 3.06
Finland 29,980 65,856 95,836 1.74 3.13
France 374,260 853,298 1,227,558 1.83 3.31
Germany 511,050 1,074,115 1,585,166 1.91 3.43
Greece 75,538 138,141 213,678 1.99 3.95
Hungary 39,876 105,812 145,688 1.49 2.64
Ireland 18,900 33,836 52,736 1.09 2.49
Italy 402,965 876,402 1,279,366 2.12 4.13
Latvia 7,712 26,035 33,747 1.74 3.17
Lithuania 11,783 37,174 48,957 1.74 3.67
Luxembourg 2,479 5,060 7,539 1.25 2.44
Malta 2,242 4,309 6,552 1.38 3.31
Netherlands 87,292 169,239 256,532 1.49 3.15
Poland 147,733 377,351 525,084 1.38 3.23
Portugal  59,989 133,527 193,516 1.88 3.82
Romania 87,514 192,093 279,607 1.43 2.56
Slovakia 18,101 44,394 62,495 1.15 2.59
Slovenia 10,061 24,076 34,137 1.65 3.40
Spain 271,984 580,758 852,741 1.83 3.99
Sweden 58,222 110,021 168,243 1.66 2.63
United Kingdom 356,741 674,656 1,031,396 1.56 2.67

Non-EU countries

Country Men Women Total  % of population in 2018 % of population in 2050
Bosnia & Herzegovina 13,397 26,591 39,988 1.22 2.94
Channel Islands 914 1,794 2,708 1.56 3.10
Iceland 1,466 2,542 4,007 1.15 2.64
Israel 29,061 54,138 83,199 0.94 1.63
Montenegro  2,311 4,263 6,574 1.06 2.06
North Macedonia 6,768 11,622 18,389 0.89 1.98
Norway 25,335 49,486 74,821 1.41 2.49
Switzerland 45,149 92,195 137,344 1.62 3.15
Turkey 184,407 344,140 528,547 0.65 1.8