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Anxiety statistics

These statistics highlight the prevalence of anxiety around the world and how it impacts individuals and society
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By | Updated on Apr. 10, 2026 Medically reviewed by Scott Dershowitz, LMSW, CMC, Lindsey Hudson, APRN, NP-C, CDCES & Josephine Bawab, Pharm.D.
U.S. Map with graphs and charts: Anxiety statistics

Key takeaways

  • Anxiety is the most common mental health disorder worldwide.

  • Global anxiety rates have increased from 1990 to 2023.

  • Adults ages 18–29 are more likely to experience anxiety than any other age group, and women are more likely to experience anxiety than men.

  • Causes of anxiety may be a combination of genetic, medical, and environmental factors.

  • Treatment for anxiety may include therapy, medication, and stress management.

In this article:

All of us have felt anxiety at one time or another, whether it be before a big test or public speaking. However, some people experience anxiety more than others. An underlying issue can sometimes cause disproportionate amounts of anxiety, which is most commonly an anxiety disorder. The statistics in this article highlight the symptoms, causes, prevalence, and treatments of anxiety to help provide a better understanding of anxiety disorders and how they affect society. 

What is anxiety?

Simply put, anxiety is the body’s response to worry and fear. “However, [anxiety] is not that simple, as there is a wide range of how deeply anxiety affects people and to what extent it interferes with their quality of life,“ says Dr. Sanam Hafeez, PsyD, a neuropsychologist at Comprehend the Mind in New York City.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), there is a multitude of anxiety disorders that cause anxiety, worry, and stress due to social interactions, personal health, work, or a particular phobia. Types of anxiety disorders include:

  • Panic disorder
  • Generalized anxiety disorder
  • Phobia-related disorders
  • Social anxiety disorder

For many people with anxiety, their condition affects their ability to function in everyday life. The NIMH reports that for those with generalized anxiety disorder, symptoms can include restlessness, feeling on edge, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and muscle tension. Many anxiety disorders cause people to experience panic attacks, which are periods of intense fear triggered by an object or situation that can reach their peak within minutes. 

“Anxiety affects people in a range of ways, often depending on the nature of the anxiety,” says Dr. Jill Stoddard, Ph.D., a psychologist based in Massachusetts. She explains that avoidance of the triggers of anxiety is common ground for all anxiety disorders.

“For example, people with panic disorder may stop exercising or having sex to avoid increases in negative physiological symptoms; people with agoraphobia may avoid malls, crowds, driving, or flying—any situation where they might have panic symptoms and not be able to escape or get help,” Dr. Stoddard says.

Generalized anxiety disorder

Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is one of the most common anxiety disorders, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). GAD is diagnosed after a person has anxiety with little to provoke it most days for at least six months. The persistent anxiety begins to affect a person’s social, work, and home life. 

According to the NIMH, symptoms of GAD may include:

  • Feeling restless or on edge
  • Feeling fatigued often
  • Difficulty focusing
  • Irritability
  • Excessive feelings of worry that are difficult to control
  • Difficulty sleeping

Panic disorder

Panic disorders are characterized by unexpected and repeated panic attacks, according to the NIMH. People with panic attacks may try to avoid situations or constantly worry about when the next panic attack may happen. 

Panic attacks cause a combination of mental and physical symptoms. Per the NIMH, symptoms of panic attacks include:

  • Sudden, overwhelming anxiety or fear
  • Feeling a loss of control
  • Heart palpitations or increased heart rate 
  • Sweating or chills
  • Shaking or trembling
  • Shortness of breath
  • Sense of terror
  • Chest pain
  • Stomach pain or nausea

According to Merck Manuals, a medical reference guide, phobia-related disorders involve a fear or apprehensiveness about specific objects or situations. While some of these objects or situations may have reason to cause fear, the fear felt by the individual with a phobia is disproportionate to the actual danger posed. 

Phobias can be related to a variety of objects or situations, including:

  • Fear of flying
  • Fear of heights
  • Fear of spiders
  • Fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia)

Agoraphobia

Merck Manuals describes agoraphobia as anxiety or fear about being in a situation or place with no easy escape or no immediate access to help.

Agoraphobia and panic disorder often occur together, according to the Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), a program under the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Per MIRECC, an agoraphobia diagnosis requires that a person has experienced severe fear or anxiety for at least six months in at least two of the following situations:

  • Using public transportation
  • Being in open spaces (e.g., parks, bridges, or fields)
  • Being in enclosed spaces (e.g., theaters, stores, or restaurants)
  • Being in a crowd or standing in line
  • Being outside of the house unaccompanied

Social anxiety disorder

Social anxiety disorder, previously known as a social phobia, is intense anxiety about being judged or rejected in social situations. It is often tied to specific performance settings, according to Merck Manuals. People with social anxiety disorder might realize their worry is unreasonable, but still feel powerless and panicky in social situations. 

Other forms of anxiety

Two other common disorders have anxiety as one of the key symptoms, but are no longer classified as anxiety disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), which is the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health professionals in the United States. They are obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

OCD is a disorder where individuals have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas, or sensations (obsessions), the urge to do something repetitively (compulsions), or both. Intrusive thoughts or impulses may frequently recur, causing feelings of anxiety. 

Examples of OCD behaviors include: 

  • Checking objects (such as locks, ovens, and lights) repeatedly to reduce the fear of harm 
  • Repeating a name, phrase, or behavior because the individual fears something terrible will happen if they don’t
  • Cleaning compulsions, which may occur because there is a fear of contamination from things like dirt and germs 
  • Ordering and arranging things in a certain way to reduce discomfort

PTSD happens when a person has difficulty recovering after a traumatic event. Symptoms may happen months or longer after the event. There is a wide variety of PTSD symptoms, some of which include:

  • Unwanted, recurrent, distressing memories or flashbacks of the event
  • Nightmares about the event
  • Avoidance of things related to the event, such as people, places, or situations
  • Emotional distress and physical reactivity after traumatic reminders (often called triggers)

Anxiety vs. depression

It is important to note that there is a difference between anxiety and depression. In a very basic sense, anxiety is an excessive feeling of worry, whereas depression is an excessive feeling of hopelessness and worthlessness. Someone can have both anxiety and depression at the same time.

How common is anxiety?

Worldwide anxiety disorder statistics

  • An estimated 359 million people around the world had anxiety in 2021, which is about 4.4% of the global population. (World Health Organization, 2025)
  • The prevalence of anxiety disorders increased worldwide from 1990 to 2023. (Our World in Data, 2026)
  • Australia had the largest increase in anxiety disorder prevalence of 178% (an increase from 4.0% to 11.2%) from 1990 to 2023. (Our World in Data, 2026)
  • In 2023, Portugal had the highest anxiety disorder prevalence worldwide, at an estimated 13.3% of its population. (Our World in Data, 2026)
  • In 2023, it is estimated that Vietnam and Mauritius had the lowest rates of anxiety disorders worldwide, affecting approximately 2.3% of their populations. (Our World in Data, 2026)

Anxiety statistics in the United States

Anxiety statistics by sex

According to the World Health Organization, females are affected by anxiety disorders more than males worldwide. The following statistics are specific to U.S. adults in 2022:

  • 21.4% of women and 14.8% of men reported experiencing anxiety symptoms in the prior 2 weeks. 
  • 13.1% of women and 9.7% of men reported mild anxiety symptoms in the prior 2 weeks.
  • 4.7% of women and 3.1% of men reported moderate anxiety symptoms in the prior 2 weeks.
  • 3.6% of women and 2% of men reported severe anxiety symptoms in the prior 2 weeks.

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024)

The following statistics are specific to SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey:

  • 27% of female respondents and 15% of male respondents reported that they were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.
  • 52% of female respondents and 39% of male respondents reported experiencing some degree of anxiety regularly.

(SingleCare, 2021)

Anxiety statistics by age

Anxiety prevalence varies by age as well. The following statistics are specific to people in the United States:

  • From 2022 to 2023, 11% of children ages 3–17 years were diagnosed with anxiety. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2025)
  • In 2022, 26.6% of Americans ages 18–29 years reported experiencing anxiety symptoms in the preceding two weeks, making this the adult age group most affected by anxiety. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024)
  • In 2022, 11.2% of adults aged 65 years and older reported anxiety symptoms in the last 2 weeks—the lowest prevalence of any age group. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024)
  • One-third (33%) of SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey respondents reported that their anxiety symptoms started between the ages of 13 and 19 years. (SingleCare, 2021)
  • Only 5% of SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey respondents reported that their anxiety symptoms started at 65 years of age. (SingleCare, 2021)

Anxiety statistics by education levels

Americans with higher education are less likely to have an anxiety disorder. Consider the following statistics:

  • In 2022 in the U.S., anxiety affected 20.4% of adults who had less than a high school diploma, 19.3% who had graduated high school or had a GED with no further education, 19.5% who had completed some college or had an associate’s degree, and 15.4% who had a bachelor’s degree or more education. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2024)
  • Anxiety is the highest concern for counseling services in colleges worldwide. In the 2020–2021 school year, 60.8% of the college students receiving counseling services were seen for anxiety. (Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors, 2021)

Causes of anxiety

There are a variety of factors that may contribute to anxiety.

Medical causes

Certain medical conditions, such as hormone imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and Lyme disease, can sometimes cause anxiety, according to the Cleveland Clinic. In other cases, underlying medical conditions can seem to exacerbate anxiety if a person becomes fixated on new or changing symptoms. According to SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey, 75% of respondents with anxiety had a co-occurring health condition.

Physical health issues with links to anxiety include the following, according to Mayo Clinic:

RELATED: Does anxiety cause IBS?

Risk factors for anxiety

Anxiety risk factors vary based on the type of anxiety disorder. The NIMH reports that, in general, people with exposure to stressful or traumatic events, a family history of mental disorders, or childhood shyness or nervousness might have an increased risk of anxiety disorders.

Other potential risk factors include the following:

  • Stress buildup: Unmanaged stress may be due to a health condition, sleep disorders, or life situations, such as work, school, financial troubles, relationship issues, or the death of a loved one. In SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey, nearly half (48%) of survey takers reported that stress at home was the cause of their anxiety. Another 30% reported that workplace stress caused anxiety.
  • Low self-esteem: Particularly in young people, low self-esteem can lead to or indicate anxiety.
  • Other mental health conditions: Major depressive disorder often co-occurs with anxiety, according to the CDC.
  • Substance abuse: Drug or alcohol use can sometimes increase or worsen anxiety.

Treating anxiety

“Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment,” Dr. Hafeez says, citing a statistic from the Children’s Health Council. SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey highlights that a huge barrier to treatment for anxiety is the cost of it. Additionally, many people do not know what resources are available. According to the NIMH, anxiety can be treated with psychotherapy, medication, support groups, stress management techniques, or a combination of these.

Therapy

Therapy, sometimes known as psychotherapy or counseling, can take various forms. It may be individual or group-based, and it can be online, over the phone, or in person. 

“One of the best treatment methods for anxiety is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This helps patients understand the thoughts and feelings that influence behaviors,” Dr. Hafeez explains.

CBT is not a quick fix for anxiety. It’s important to work with a licensed therapist to determine the required length of treatment and then attend all scheduled sessions. 

Medications

Medication is another way to help relieve anxiety symptoms. The NIMH lists three main drug categories that a healthcare provider may prescribe to treat anxiety: 

Save on anxiety medication

Stress management treatments

Sometimes called complementary and alternative medications (CAM), non-pharmaceutical strategies and treatments have been found helpful in alleviating some anxiety symptoms. 

A stress management plan may include:

  • Acupuncture
  • Meditation
  • Exercise (especially yoga)
  • Relaxation techniques, such as deep breathing
  • Modifying diet by decreasing the intake of sugar, alcohol, and caffeine

Support for anxiety and suicide

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. In 2023, 49,316 Americans died by suicide, and there were an estimated 1.5 million suicide attempts. The relationship between anxiety and suicide has been studied for years, but results seem inconclusive. One study suggests that anxiety disorders are statistically significant, but weak, predictors of suicide ideation and attempts. Another study found that having a personality disorder with panic disorder or PTSD is strongly associated with suicide attempts. A third study found links between social anxiety and suicidality in adolescents, but researchers also reported that findings are “limited by the small number of studies of mixed quality.”

Regardless, anyone seeking support for anxiety or suicidal thoughts can contact the Suicide Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. There are also resources on the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) website.

What these statistics mean for you

If you suffer from an anxiety disorder, you are not alone. Many people of all ages throughout the world have anxiety disorders. Fortunately, there are multiple treatment options to help with anxiety. If you are struggling with anxiety or any other mental health issues, it is important to seek help.

SingleCare’s 2020 anxiety survey highlights treatment costs and access to mental health care as significant barriers for many people with anxiety. The increasing anxiety rates over the past few years emphasize the need for increased funding to mental health services, continued efforts to reduce stigma surrounding anxiety, and the need for early intervention programs. These numbers underscore the need for empathy and understanding.

Anxiety questions and answers

How many people in the world have anxiety?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 4.4% of the global population has anxiety, and an estimated 359 million people experienced anxiety in 2021. 

What races or ethnicities are more prone to anxiety disorders?

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that non-Hispanic white adults are more likely than Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, or non-Hispanic Asian adults to experience symptoms of anxiety in the U.S. 

How many people have anxiety in the United States?

Anxiety is the most common mental disorder, affecting 40 million adults in the United States, according to ADAA. According to the CDC, about 11% of adolescents aged 3–17 years have anxiety.

Who is mostly affected by anxiety?

Women are more likely to be affected by anxiety than men, and adults aged 18–29 years are most affected by it compared to other age groups. In general, people with a history of trauma, co-occurring mental health disorders, or a family history of anxiety also have an increased risk of developing anxiety.

What age does anxiety affect the most?

People ages 18 to 29 years are most affected by anxiety, according to the CDC. 

What percentage of students have anxiety?

In the 2020–2021 school year, 60.8% of college students who received counseling services were seen for anxiety, according to the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors. 

Why is anxiety so common now?

There is no single answer to why anxiety is more common now, but Our World in Data shows that the prevalence of anxiety disorders increased worldwide between 1990 and 2023. The 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll found that anxiety contributors among American adults include current events, gun violence, stress, and poor sleep.

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