The number of people developing dementia each year worldwide may more than double by 2050, based on new international research that underscores the increasing challenge for healthcare systems. The study projects that annual new cases will increase from 11.4 million in 2023 to 24.7 million in 2050, with women showing higher rates of dementia than men.
The study, published October 12, 2026 in JAMA Neurology, consolidates information from population-based studies in several regions to better understand how population differences contribute to dementia incidence. The results also reveal the elevated rates of dementia in low- and middle-income countries, where there may be fewer healthcare resources for diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care.
Dementia is a general term used to describe a group of conditions, which gradually affect memory, thinking skills, communication, and the ability to carry out daily activities. It’s caused by damage to the brain, with Alzheimer’s disease being the most common. Other types of dementia include vascular dementia and dementia with Lewy bodies.
This figure is so impactful because dementia can be chronic, meaning there is often long-term help from doctors, carers, and the community. When there are more people living with the disease, doctors, and community services need to be prepared for a greater need for early diagnosis, specialist care, and support for families.
Incidence and prevalence are not the same incidence refers to how many people have developed dementia in a given period. Prevalence is how many people are living with dementia at a given time. Past estimates have suggested there are over 57 million people living with dementia globally and the prevalence may increase to 153 million in 2050. This new research instead looks at the number of new cases that develop each year.
One notable finding from the study relates to the difference between women and men. After adjusting for age, researchers estimated that there are 10.6 new cases of dementia per 1,000 person-years among women, compared to 8.6 per 1,000 person-years among men.
This discrepancy tells us that the higher numbers of women with dementia can’t be caused simply by Truth is women tend to live longer than men. The research doesn’t find a single cause of the difference, yet.
“Further studies are required to examine the potential role of biological, social, and environmental factors, like variation in hormonal changes with age, cardiovascular risk, education, and cumulative exposure to other dementia risk factors during lifetime. The impact of these factors on brain health may vary between populations, ” the researchers said.
These results support why women should be included in future dementia research and the need to better understand brain health in women over their lifetime. They don’t suggest all women will experience the same risk of dementia or that it’s a natural part of aging.
For low- and middle-income countries, the age-standardised incidence rate was 13.6 new cases per 1,000 person years while for high-income countries, the number was 8.3 new cases per 1,000 person years.
The team looked at information from 38,418 people, from 22 population-based studies representing 18 countries and territories from 6 continents. While the study was able to compare more countries globally than most previous studies, the population included in the sample group could not represent each country equally.
