United Kingdom (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)
2013: The prevalence of dementia in Europe
Alzheimer Europe estimates the number of people with dementia in United Kingdom in 2012 as being 1,037,791. This represents 1.65% of the total population of 62,798,099. The number of people with dementia as a percentage of the population is somewhat higher than the EU average of 1.55%. The following table shows the estimated number of people with dementia between 30 and 59 and for every 5-year age group thereafter.
| Age group | Men with dementia | Women with dementia | Total |
| 30 - 59 | 19,842 | 11,351 | 31,192 |
| 60 - 64 | 3,601 | 16,969 | 20,570 |
| 65 - 69 | 27,972 | 23,320 | 51,293 |
| 70 - 74 | 37,905 | 50,617 | 88,522 |
| 75 - 79 | 64,125 | 84,973 | 149,098 |
| 80 - 84 | 90,051 | 143,537 | 233,588 |
| 85 - 89 | 71,704 | 172,183 | 243,887 |
| 90 - 94 | 37,134 | 129,610 | 166,744 |
| 95+ | 8,248 | 44,651 | 52,899 |
| Total | 360,581 | 677,210 | 1,037,791 |
According to the 2011 census, the population of the United Kingdom (UK) was 63,182,000; approximately 53.0 million in England, 3.1 million in Wales and 1.8 million in Northern Ireland.
According to the 2011 census, approximately 14 million people in the UK are aged over 60; 11,832,806 in England, 767,429 in Wales, and 358,010 in Northern Ireland.
| Age | England | Wales | Northern Ireland |
| 30 ‒ 34 | 3,509,221 | 174,694 | 119,839 |
| 35 ‒ 39 | 3,549,116 | 183,045 | 122,260 |
| 40 ‒ 44 | 3,885,934 | 213,155 | 131,848 |
| 45 ‒ 49 | 3,879,815 | 220,711 | 131,645 |
| 50 ‒ 54 | 3,400,095 | 201,599 | 116,933 |
| 55 ‒ 59 | 2,996,992 | 186,923 | 99,272 |
| 60 ‒ 64 | 3,172,277 | 204,885 | 94,290 |
| 65 ‒ 69 | 2,508,154 | 166,007 | 82,121 |
| 70 ‒ 74 | 2,044,129 | 134,543 | 63,479 |
| 75 ‒ 79 | 1,669,345 | 108,202 | 50,358 |
| 80 ‒ 84 | 1,258,773 | 79,232 | 36,366 |
| 85 ‒ 89 | 776,311 | 49,360 | 21,165 |
| 90 + | 403,817 | 25,200 | 10,231 |
Alzheimer's Society made the following estimates for the number of people with dementia in 2012: 665,065 in England, 44,598 in Wales and 18,862 in Northern Ireland.
Estimates of the numbers of people with dementia are made by applying a prevalence estimate to the numbers of people in any given population. This estimate is then compared with the number of people diagnosed with dementia according to data in the National Health Service (NHS) Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicator number DEM1. The difference between these figures is the number of people we believe to be living with dementia in the UK without a diagnosis.
The estimates of prevalence rates that are used by Alzheimer's Society are those which were calculated in the Dementia UK report (Knapp and Prince, 2007). For this report, we commissioned academics to produce a report on numbers of people with dementia and cost of dementia to the UK. The process used to calculate the prevalence estimates was the Delphi consensus method which is explained in more detail in the report.
In 2012, 293,738 people in England had an official diagnosis of dementia; Alzheimer's Society estimates that this is 44.2% of the total number of people with dementia. In Wales, the figure was 17,184 or an estimated 38.5% of the total. In Northern Ireland the figure was 11,882 or an estimated 63.0% of the total.
Last Updated: Monday 24 February 2014
