Asthma is a major respiratory condition measured differently across surveys, modeled studies and health records. The figures below distinguish diagnosed current asthma, symptoms such as wheezing, healthcare visits, deaths, modeled burden and forecasts by geography and period.
Key Asthma Statistics
These figures summarize the broadest measures of asthma burden and outcomes:
- In 2023, 363 million people worldwide were estimated to have asthma.
- In 2023, 442,000 asthma deaths were estimated worldwide.
- In 2021, 260 million people across 204 countries and territories were estimated to have asthma.
- Between 1990 and 2021, age-standardized global asthma prevalence fell 40.0%, from 5,568.3 to 3,340.1 per 100,000 people.
- In 2019, current wheezing affected an estimated 11.5% of people aged 5–69 worldwide.
- In 2023, 27.807 million people in the United States had current asthma, equal to 8.4% of the population.
- In 2023, 4.804 million U.S. children under 18 had current asthma, equal to 6.7%.
- In 2023, 23.004 million U.S. adults had current asthma, equal to 8.9%.
- In 2023, 42.3% of U.S. people with current asthma reported an attack during the prior 12 months.
- In 2023, 1,009,419 U.S. emergency department visits had asthma as the primary diagnosis.
- In 2023, 107,025 U.S. inpatient stays had asthma as the primary diagnosis.
- In 2023, 3,624 U.S. deaths listed asthma as the underlying cause.
- In 2023, the U.S. asthma death rate was 22.6 per million among non-Hispanic Black people.
- In 2021, modifiable risk factors accounted for an estimated 29.9% of global asthma DALYs.
- In 2050, the GBD model projects 275 million asthma cases worldwide, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 224–330 million.
Contents
- Global asthma prevalence, cases and deaths
- U.S. asthma prevalence by age, sex and race
- Asthma attacks and symptom burden
- Asthma emergency and hospital care
- Asthma mortality and disparities
- Asthma trends, risk factors and 2050 projections
Global Asthma Prevalence, Cases and Deaths
Global totals vary because organizations use different definitions and methods. The World Health Organization’s 2023 estimate and the modeled GBD 2021 estimate should therefore be read as separate measures, not as a single time series.
- The World Health Organization’s Asthma fact sheet estimated that asthma affected 363 million people worldwide in 2023.
- WHO reported an estimated 442,000 asthma deaths worldwide in 2023; attribution and completeness vary by country.
- The GBD 2021 analysis estimated 260 million people with asthma across 204 countries and territories in 2021, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 227–298 million (peer-reviewed GBD analysis).
The GBD series estimated 287 million global cases in 1990, 238 million in 2005 and 260 million in 2021. These are modeled estimates rather than observations from one survey series.
| Global measure | Period | Estimate | Scope and definition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asthma cases | 1990 | 287 million | GBD modeled global estimate |
| Asthma cases | 2005 | 238 million | GBD modeled global estimate |
| Asthma cases | 2021 | 260 million | 204 countries and territories |
| Age-standardized prevalence | 1990 | 5,568.3 per 100,000 | Modeled rate |
| Age-standardized prevalence | 2021 | 3,340.1 per 100,000 | Modeled rate |
Between 1990 and 2021, age-standardized asthma prevalence fell 40.0%, even as the estimated number of cases rose from 238 million in 2005 to 260 million in 2021. South Asia had the highest age-standardized asthma DALY rate in 2021, at 465.0 per 100,000, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 357.2–648.9 (GBD analysis).
A separate 2019 global analysis of people aged 5–69 estimated current wheezing prevalence at 11.5%, with a 95% confidence interval of 9.1–14.3, and estimated 754.6 million people with current wheezing, with a 95% confidence interval of 599.7–943.4 million. It estimated current asthma prevalence at 5.4%, with a 95% confidence interval of 3.2–9.0; current wheezing and current asthma are not interchangeable definitions (2019 global prevalence analysis).
U.S. Asthma Prevalence by Age, Sex and Race
The U.S. National Health Interview Survey defines current asthma as having ever been told by a health professional that the respondent had asthma and still having asthma. The 2023 CDC tables provide a current snapshot, while the 2021 peer-reviewed analysis provides additional demographic comparisons.
- In 2023, 27.807 million U.S. people had current asthma, or 8.4% of the population.
- In 2023, 4.804 million children under 18 had current asthma, or 6.7%, while 23.004 million adults had current asthma, or 8.9% (CDC Most Recent Asthma Data).
| U.S. population | 2023 current-asthma prevalence |
|---|---|
| Children aged 0–4 | 3.0% |
| People aged 5–14 | 7.4% |
| Adults aged 65 and older | 8.3% |
| Non-Hispanic Black people | 11.5% |
| Non-Hispanic White people | 8.6% |
| Hispanic people overall | 7.0% |
The 2023 figures are weighted survey estimates. The age comparison describes the populations as defined in the CDC tables, and the race and ethnicity categories include children and adults (CDC Most Recent Asthma Data).
In 2021, 24.9 million U.S. people had asthma, including 4.7 million children and 20.3 million adults, and 7.7% of the U.S. population had current asthma. Among adults, prevalence was 9.8% for females and 6.2% for males, 10.6% for non-Hispanic Black adults, 8.2% for non-Hispanic White adults and 5.8% for Hispanic adults (The Status of Asthma in the United States).
Asthma Attacks and Symptom Burden
Attack statistics describe the share of people who already have current asthma and reported at least one attack during the previous 12 months. They are not the share of the entire U.S. population and do not measure how many attacks each person had.
- In 2023, 11.750 million U.S. people with current asthma reported at least one attack in the prior 12 months.
- The 2023 attack share was 42.3% among U.S. people with current asthma, 47.1% among children with current asthma and 41.2% among adults with current asthma.
- Among U.S. people with current asthma, 35.1% of Mexican people and 46.7% of other Hispanic people reported an attack in 2023.
The subgroup figures are self-reported and refer to at least one attack, so they should not be interpreted as attack-frequency estimates (CDC Most Recent Asthma Data).
The 2021 U.S. surveillance article cited approximate estimates that asthma was uncontrolled in about 50% of children with asthma and about 62% of adults with asthma. These percentages are approximate contextual estimates, and the uncontrolled definition comes from prior evidence cited by the article rather than a new measurement in that analysis (The Status of Asthma in the United States).
Asthma Emergency and Hospital Care
Healthcare-use figures count encounters, not unique people. The 2023 CDC tables use asthma as the primary diagnosis, and the reported rates are crude unless specifically described otherwise.
| U.S. outcome | 2023 count | 2023 crude rate |
|---|---|---|
| Asthma-primary-diagnosis ED visits | 1,009,419 | 30.1 per 10,000 residents |
| ED visits, children under 18 | 374,265 | 51.4 per 10,000 |
| ED visits, adults 18+ | 635,088 | 24.3 per 10,000 |
| Asthma-primary-diagnosis inpatient stays | 107,025 | 3.2 per 10,000 residents |
| Inpatient stays, children under 18 | 46,730 | 6.3 per 10,000 |
| Inpatient stays, adults 18+ | 60,295 | 2.3 per 10,000 |
These estimates come from HCUP-weighted CDC surveillance tables; a person can have multiple visits or stays (CDC Most Recent Asthma Data).
The longer trend in the 2021 U.S. analysis showed asthma hospitalization falling from 13.0 per 10,000 in 2010 to 2.9 per 10,000 in 2020. Among adults, the rate fell from 12.0 to 2.6 per 10,000 over the same period, although pandemic conditions may have affected healthcare utilization (The Status of Asthma in the United States).
In 2021, asthma ED rates were 80.6 per 10,000 for Black adults versus 13.7 for White adults, and 89.5 per 10,000 for Black children versus 14.4 for White children. These are study-category comparisons for asthma-primary-diagnosis ED visits, not measures of individual risk for every person in the categories (The Status of Asthma in the United States).
Asthma Mortality and Disparities
Mortality figures use asthma as the underlying cause of death, ICD-10 J45–J46. Rounded or suppressed cells may not sum exactly, and death rates are crude unless otherwise stated.
- In 2023, the United States recorded 3,624 asthma deaths, a rate of 10.8 per million.
- U.S. children accounted for 166 asthma deaths in 2023, or 2.3 per million, while adults accounted for 3,458 deaths, or 13.2 per million.
- Among people aged 65 and older, the 2023 U.S. asthma death rate was 28.1 per million.
- In 2023, females had 2,117 asthma deaths and a rate of 12.5 per million, compared with 1,507 deaths and 9.1 per million among males.
| U.S. population | 2023 asthma deaths | Rate per million |
|---|---|---|
| Non-Hispanic Black people | 955 | 22.6 |
| Non-Hispanic White people | 2,035 | 10.4 |
| Hispanic people | 404 | 6.2 |
The disparity table reports observed underlying-cause mortality, not prevalence. In 2021, asthma was the underlying cause of 3,517 U.S. deaths, or 10.6 deaths per million (CDC Most Recent Asthma Data; The Status of Asthma in the United States).
Asthma Trends, Risk Factors and 2050 Projections
The GBD analysis attributes part of the global asthma burden to selected modifiable risk factors. Its attribution is a modeled estimate and is not the same as evidence from a causal trial.
- Modifiable risk factors accounted for an estimated 29.9% of global asthma DALYs in 2021.
- High BMI contributed an estimated 39.4 asthma DALYs per 100,000 globally in 2021, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 19.6–60.2.
- Occupational asthmagens contributed an estimated 20.8 asthma DALYs per 100,000 globally in 2021, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 16.7–26.5.
The GBD model projects 275 million asthma cases worldwide in 2050, with a 95% uncertainty interval of 224–330 million. Population growth drives much of the projected increase, and the figure is a forecast rather than an observed count (peer-reviewed GBD analysis).
The same model projects a −23.2% change in age-standardized asthma prevalence from 2021 to 2050, with a 95% uncertainty interval of −44.4% to 5.3%. Because the interval crosses zero, the projected decline is uncertain rather than guaranteed.
In the GBD trend comparison, asthma prevalence had an average annual percentage change of −1.39% before the pandemic and 0.47% during 2019–2021. The pandemic-period estimate is short and uncertain, so it should not be treated as a settled long-term trend (peer-reviewed GBD analysis).