Prevalence and Incidence

In the United States

• Prevalence: Approximately 3.4 million people in the U.S. have epilepsy, which is about 1.2% of the population.

Age: Epilepsy can occur at any age, however is more commonly diagnosed in young children (<10) and older people (>60).

Race: Epilepsy  prevalence is highest among black beneficiaries in comparison to white beneficiaries, even lower occurrence in the Asians and Hispanics.

Sex: Women are more likely to develop epilepsy than men, dependent on the type of epilepsy and age group. 

• Incidence: In every 100,000 people, approximately 48 people is discovered to have epilepsy each year.

Globally

• Prevalence: Around 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological diseases.  The prevalence can vary significantly between countries and regions due to differences in healthcare systems, socioeconomic factors, and access to treatment.  

• Incidence: The incidence rate of epilepsy is estimated to be around 50-60 per 100,000 person-years.  However, this number is higher in low- and middle-income countries (up to 190 per 100,000), where there is limited access to healthcare, higher rates of infections like neurocysticercosis, and greater exposure to other risk factors, such as perinatal complications and head trauma.