Chronic illness is widespread across U.S. adult life stages and is also a major global cause of death. The statistics below distinguish survey definitions, selected condition lists, care settings and global noncommunicable-disease estimates so that unlike measures are not treated as interchangeable.
Key Chronic Illness Statistics
The following figures summarize the most broadly useful measures:
- In 2023, 76.4% of U.S. noninstitutionalized adults reported at least one of 12 selected chronic conditions.
- In 2023, 51.4% of U.S. noninstitutionalized adults reported multiple selected chronic conditions.
- In 2023, 59.5% of U.S. adults aged 18–34 had at least one selected chronic condition.
- In 2023, 93.0% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older had at least one selected chronic condition.
- In 2023, 78.8% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older had multiple selected chronic conditions.
- From 2013 to 2023, young-adult prevalence of at least one selected chronic condition rose from 52.5% to 59.5%.
- From 2013 to 2023, young-adult multiple-condition prevalence rose from 21.8% to 27.1%.
- From 2013 to 2023, obesity among U.S. adults aged 18–34 rose from 22.1% to 27.3%.
- From 2013 to 2023, depression among U.S. adults aged 18–34 rose from 16.4% to 25.0%.
- In 2023, high blood pressure was reported by 61.4% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older.
- In 2018, multiple-condition prevalence was 34.8% in rural U.S. areas and 26.1% in urban areas.
- In 2022, 47% of U.S. adult day services center participants had two or three of 10 common chronic conditions.
- In 2022, 61.3% of U.S. adult day services center participants needed assistance with three to six activities of daily living.
- In 2021, noncommunicable diseases killed at least 43 million people worldwide.
- In 2021, about 18 million people died from a noncommunicable disease before age 70.
- In 2021, low- and middle-income countries accounted for 82% of premature noncommunicable-disease deaths.
Contents
- U.S. chronic illness prevalence
- Age and multiple-condition burden
- Chronic illness trends
- Differences by demographic and coverage groups
- Adult day and long-term care settings
- Global chronic illness mortality
U.S. Chronic Illness Statistics: Prevalence and Definitions
The CDC’s 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System analysis found that 76.4% of U.S. noninstitutionalized adults, or more than 194 million people, reported at least one of 12 selected chronic conditions. Multiple chronic conditions, defined there as at least two of those conditions, affected 51.4%, or about 131 million adults.
These are self-reported diagnosed-condition estimates, not a census of every illness or undiagnosed disease. The BRFSS analysis uses a selected list of 12 conditions; obesity and current asthma are included with the analysis’s stated definition.
The earlier 2018 National Health Interview Survey used 10 selected diagnosed conditions, so its results should not be read as an identical time point to the 2023 BRFSS measure:
- In 2018, 51.8% of U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized adults had at least one selected chronic condition.
- In 2018, 24.6% had exactly one selected condition, equivalent to about 61 million people.
- In 2018, 27.2% had at least two selected conditions, equivalent to about 68 million people.
Sources: CDC, Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2013–2023 and CDC, Prevalence of Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2018.
Other national estimates use broader or different disease definitions. A 2024 CDC study cited an estimate of about 129 million U.S. people with at least one major chronic disease, about 42% with two or more chronic conditions and about 12% with at least five; those figures are cited estimates and are not the study’s own ZCTA composite.
The cost measures also use different scopes. Direct U.S. health-care costs for treating chronic health conditions totaled $1.1 trillion in 2016, while a separate cited estimate attributed about 90% of annual $4.1 trillion U.S. health-care expenditure to chronic diseases and mental-health conditions combined.
Chronic Illness Statistics by Age and Multiple-Condition Burden
The 2023 BRFSS results show a steep age gradient in both any selected chronic condition and multiple conditions:
| U.S. adult group | At least one condition | Multiple conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 18–34 | 59.5% (43.7 million) | 27.1% (19.9 million) |
| Ages 35–64 | 78.4% (94.8 million) | 52.7% (63.8 million) |
| Ages 65+ | 93.0% (55.7 million) | 78.8% (47.2 million) |
Source: CDC, Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2013–2023. Percentages are for the selected-condition BRFSS definitions.
The 2018 NHIS age groups used a different 10-condition definition. Multiple-condition prevalence was 6.7% among adults aged 18–44, 33.0% among adults aged 45–64 and 63.7% among adults aged 65 or older.
The age gradient is also visible in selected 2023 conditions. Obesity was reported by 27.3% of adults aged 18–34, 37.1% of adults aged 35–64 and 30.3% of adults aged 65 or older.
Among older adults, arthritis affected 51.3%, while high cholesterol affected 55.1% and high blood pressure affected 61.4%.
Source: CDC, Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2013–2023.
Chronic Illness Trends from 2013 to 2023
The CDC’s life-stage analysis reports changes in prevalence, not counts of newly diagnosed people. For young adults, at least one selected chronic condition rose from 52.5% in 2013 to 59.5% in 2023, and multiple-condition prevalence rose from 21.8% to 27.1%; the analysis estimated 5.2 million more young adults with any chronic disease and 3.8 million more with multiple conditions in 2023 than in 2013.
Selected trends by life stage include:
| Population and condition | 2013 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 18–34, obesity | 22.1% | 27.3% |
| Ages 18–34, depression | 16.4% | 25.0% |
| Ages 18–34, COPD | 2.6% | 1.9% |
| Ages 18–34, cancer excluding skin cancer | 1.4% | 1.0% |
| Ages 35–64, diabetes | 10.9% | 12.5% |
| Ages 35–64, chronic kidney disease | 2.5% | 3.1% |
| Ages 35–64, stroke | 2.6% | 3.1% |
| Ages 65+, chronic kidney disease | 5.7% | 8.6% |
| Ages 65+, heart disease | 18.4% | 15.7% |
Source: CDC, Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2013–2023. Obesity uses self-reported height and weight with BMI of at least 30; the other conditions are based on the study’s self-reported diagnosis measures.
In 2023, depression affected 25.0% of young adults. High cholesterol affected 36.9% of midlife adults and 55.1% of older adults, while high blood pressure affected 35.0% and 61.4% of those same groups.
Chronic Illness Data by Sex, Race, Insurance and Rurality
The 2018 NHIS provides several subgroup comparisons for multiple selected diagnosed conditions. These are cross-sectional associations, not evidence that a demographic or insurance category causes the measured prevalence.
| U.S. adult group, 2018 | Multiple-condition prevalence |
|---|---|
| Women | 28.4% |
| Men | 25.9% |
| Non-Hispanic White adults | 30.6% |
| Non-Hispanic Black adults | 27.0% |
| Non-Hispanic Asian adults | 16.4% |
| Hispanic adults | 17.7% |
| Rural areas | 34.8% |
| Urban areas | 26.1% |
Among adults aged 18–64, 2018 multiple-condition prevalence was 27.6% for public insurance, 15.7% for private insurance and 11.6% for uninsured adults. Among adults aged 65 or older, prevalence was 76.9% for dual Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries, 63.0% for Medicare Advantage enrollees and 58.5% for Medicare-only adults excluding Medicare Advantage.
Source: CDC, Prevalence of Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, 2018. Insurance groups differ in age, health and socioeconomic composition, so these figures should not be interpreted as causal comparisons.
Chronic Illness Statistics in Adult Day and Long-Term Care Settings
The 2022 NCHS estimates describe people using adult day services centers, a service-using population rather than all U.S. adults. The report counted 10 common conditions, and individual conditions overlap, so percentages need not sum to 100%.
In 2022, 47% of adult day services center participants had two or three of the 10 common conditions, 18% had four to 10, and 4% had none. High blood pressure affected 50%, Alzheimer disease or other dementias 34.1%, diabetes 27.8%, arthritis 18.5% and COPD 4.1%.
Functional needs were also common in this setting. In 2022, 61.3% needed assistance with three to six activities of daily living, and 67.4% needed help with bathing; these are assistance measures involving help, supervision or assistive devices, not disease-prevalence measures.
Source: NCHS, Adult day services center participant characteristics: United States, 2022.
Global Chronic Illness Statistics, Deaths and Premature Mortality
The World Health Organization uses noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as a broad grouping that corresponds closely to chronic illness, but these figures are global mortality estimates rather than prevalence estimates for every chronic condition.
In 2021, NCDs killed at least 43 million people worldwide and accounted for 75% of non-pandemic-related deaths. About 18 million people died from an NCD before age 70, and low- and middle-income countries accounted for 82% of premature NCD deaths.
| Global measure, 2021 | WHO estimate |
|---|---|
| All NCD deaths | At least 43 million |
| Share of non-pandemic-related deaths | 75% |
| NCD deaths before age 70 | About 18 million |
| Share of premature NCD deaths in low- and middle-income countries | 82% |
| All NCD deaths in low- and middle-income countries | About 32 million (73%) |
The main disease groups also show the scale of the burden. Cardiovascular diseases caused at least 19 million NCD deaths, cancers caused 10 million, chronic respiratory diseases caused 4 million and diabetes caused more than 2 million in 2021; the diabetes estimate includes kidney-disease deaths caused by diabetes.
Together, cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes accounted for 80% of premature NCD deaths, where premature means before age 70.
Source: WHO, Noncommunicable diseases.