--- title: Dementia: More Than 46 Million People Have Dementia Globally description: The number could double in the next 20 years if there is no medical breakthrough. canonical: https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/ author: Tanya Basu article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-25T14:36:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:24:58.405Z article:section: Health og:title: More Than 46 Million People Have Dementia Worldwide og:description: And the number could double in the next 20 years og:url: https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca10d99a3255fde/698860bf5f570f931ab1d125/gettyimages-136104625.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 136104625 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: More Than 46 Million People Have Dementia Worldwide twitter:description: And the number could double in the next 20 years twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca10d99a3255fde/698860bf5f570f931ab1d125/gettyimages-136104625.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Over 46 Million People Now Have Dementia Worldwide  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 25, 2015 2:36 PM UTC  Senior man sitting on bench in garden Senior man sitting on bench in gardenGetty Images  by [Tanya Basu](https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Aug 25, 2015 2:36 PM UTC More than 46 million people around the world suffer from dementia, according to a report released Tuesday. [The World Alzheimer Report](http://www.worldalzreport2015.org/), published by [Alzheimer’s Disease International](http://www.alz.co.uk/) and [King’s College London](http://www.kcl.ac.uk/index.aspx), says the number of people affected by dementia has increased quickly from the 35 million estimated in 2009, and researchers warn that number could double in the next 20 years. Dementia is a collective term for progressive, degenerative brain syndromes affecting cognitive functions. Alzheimer’s disease is a common cause of dementia. The report also noted that 58% of all people with dementia reside in developing countries. By 2050, 68% of those with dementia will be located in low and middle income countries, where services are limited and populations are aging quickly. There is no cure for dementia. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/"},"headline":"Over 46 Million People Now Have Dementia Worldwide","datePublished":"2015-08-25T14:36:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:24:58.405Z","description":"Dementia is often caused by Alzheimer's Disease","url":"https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/","keywords":["global health","Public Health","Aging","Research","Mental Health/Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca10d99a3255fde/698860bf5f570f931ab1d125/gettyimages-136104625.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfca10d99a3255fde/698860bf5f570f931ab1d125/gettyimages-136104625.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"136104625","caption":"136104625","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/global-health/","name":"global health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4009643/46-million-dementia-alzheimers/","name":"Over 46 Million People Now Have Dementia Worldwide"}}]}] ```