Anaemia prevalence and number of individuals affected in preschool-age children, pregnant women, and non-pregnant women in each WHO region
WHO regional estimates generated for preschool-age children and pregnant and non-pregnant women indicate that the highest proportion of individuals affected are in Africa (47.5–67.6%), while the greatest number affected are in South-East Asia where 315 million (95% CI: 291–340) individuals in these three population groups are affected.
| WHO region | Preschool-age childrena | Pregnant women | Non-pregnant women | |||
| Prevalence (%) | # affected (millions) |
Prevalence (%) | # affected (millions) | Prevalence (%) | # affected (millions) | |
| Africa | 67.6 (64.3-71.0)b |
83.5 (79.4-87.6) |
57.1 (52.8-61.3) |
17.2 (15.9-18.5) |
47.5 (43.4-51.6) | 69.9 (63.9-75.9) |
| Americas | 29.3 (26.8-31.9) |
23.1 (21.1-25.1) |
24.1 (17.3-30.8) |
3.9 (2.8-5.0) |
17.8 (12.9-22.7) |
39 (28.3-49.7) |
| South-East Asia | 65.5 (61.0-70.0) |
115.3 (107.3-123.2) |
48.2 (43.9-52.5) |
18.1 (16.4-19.7) |
45.7 (41.9-49.4) |
182 (166.9-197.1) |
| Europe | 21.7 (15.4-28.0) |
11.1 (7.9-14.4) |
25.1 (18.6-31.6) |
2.6 (2.0-3.3) |
19 (14.7-23.3) |
40.8 (31.5-50.1) |
| Eastern Mediterranean | 46.7 (42.2-51.2) |
0.8 (0.4-1.1) |
44.2 (38.2-50.3) |
7.1 (6.1-8.0) |
32.4 (29.2-35.6) |
39.8 (35.8-43.8) |
| Western Pacific | 23.1 (21.9-24.4) |
27.4 (25.9-28.9) |
30.7 (28.8-32.7) |
7.6 (7.1-8.1) |
21.5 (20.8-22.2) |
97 (94.0-100.0) |
| Global | 47.4 (45.7-49.1) |
293.1 (282.8-303.5) |
41.8 (39.9-43.8) |
56.4 (53.8-59.1) |
30.2 (28.7-31.6) |
468.4 (446.2-490.6) |
a Population subgroups: Preschool-age children (0.00-4.99 yrs); Pregnant women (no age range defined); Non-pregnant women (15.00-49.99 yrs).
b 95% Confidence Intervals.
Source
de Benoist B et al., eds. Worldwide prevalence of anaemia 1993-2005. WHO Global Database on Anaemia Geneva, World Health Organization, 2008.