Table 2

Age-standardised prevalence of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI; presenting visual acuity <6/18 but ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60) by sex and year in high-income countries (HIC) and Eastern and Central Europe (Europe) for 1990 and 2010

Adults ≥ 50 yearsAll ages
MenWomenAllMenWomenAll
RegionBlind (%)MSVI (%)Blind (%)MSVI (%)Blind (%)MSVI (%)Blind (%)MSVI (%)Blind (%)MSVI (%)Blind (%)MSVI (%)
1990
Asia Pacific, high-income0.4 (0.2 to 0.9)2.7 (1.9 to 8.6)0.7 (0.4 to 1.1)3.3 (2.2 to 9.7)0.6 (0.4 to 0.1)3.1 (2.1 to 8.9)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)0.7 (0.5 to 0.2)0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)0.9 (0.6 to 2.5)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)0.8 (0.5 to 2.3)
Australasia0.4 (0.2 to 1.2)5.6 (2.9 to 11.9)0.6 (0.4 to 1.4)6.6 83.3 to 14.0)0.5 (0.4 to 1.3)6.2 (3.2 to 12.9)0.1 (0.1 to 0.3)1.4 (0.7 to 3.1)0.2 (0.1 to 0.4)1.7 (0.9 to 3.7)0.1 (0.1 to 0.3)1.6 (0.8 to 3.4)
Europe, Central0.9 (0.7 to 1.8)9.1 (5.2 to 13.9)1.3 (1.0 to 2.4)10.5 (6.1 to 16.0)1.2 (0.9 to 2.1)9.9 (5.7 to 15.4)0.2 (0.2 to 0.4)2.4 (1.3 to 3.7)0.3 (0.2 to 0.6)2.8 (1.6 to 4.3)0.3 (0.2 to 0.5)2.6 (1.5 to 4.1)
Europe, Eastern1.1 (0.6 to 1.7)9.8 (5.3 to 13.5)1.5 (0.8 to 2.3)11.4 (6.1 to 15.3)1.4 (0.7 to 2.1)10.9 (5.8 to 14.7)0.3 (0.1 to 0.4)2.6 (1.3 to 3.6)0.4 (0.2 to 0.6)1.0 (1.6 to 4.1)0.3 (0.2 to 0.5)2.8 (1.5 to 3.9)
Europe, Western0.6 (0.3 to 1.1)5.0 (3.4 to 7.8)0.9 (0.6 to 1.2)5.9 (3.8 to 9.0)0.7 (0.6 to 1.1)5.5 83.7 to 8.4)0.1 (0.1 to 0.3)1.3 to 0.9 to 2.0)0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)1.5 (1.0 to 2.3)0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)1.4 (1.0 to 2.2)
North America, high-income0.3 (0.2 to 0.6)2.7 (2.2 to 4.7)0.5 (0.3 to 0.8)3.3 (2.5 to 5.2)0.5 (0.3 to 0.7)3.0 (2.4 to 4.9)0.1 (0.0 to 0.2)0.7 (0.6 to 1.2)0.1 (0.1 to 0.3)0.8 (0.6 to 1.4)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)0.8 (0.6 to 1.3)
HIC, Europe0.6 (0.5 to 1.0)5.3 (4.0 to 7.1)1.2 (0.9,1.6)7.8 (5.9 to 10.2)0.8 (0.7. 1.1)6.0 (4.6 to 8.0)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.4 (1.0,1.9)0.2 (0.2,0.3)1.7 (1.3,2.3)0.2 (0.2 to 0.3)1.6 (1.2 to 2.1)
World2.8 (2.4 to 3.2)13.8 (11.6 to 15.5)3.4 (3.0 to 3.9)15.3 (12.9 to 17.3)3.0 (2.7 to 3.4)14.3 (12.1 to 16.2)0.7 (0.6 to 0.8)3.9 (3.2 to 4.4)0.8 (0.7 to 1.0)4.3 (3.5 to 4.9)0.8 (0.7 to 0.9)4.1 (3.4 to 4.7)
2010
Asia Pacific, high-income0.3 (0.1 to 0.5)1.8 (1.2 to 6.6)0.4 (0.2 to 0.7)2.2 (1.4 to 7.2)0.3 (0.2 to 0.6)2.0 (1.3 to 6.9)0.1 (0.0 to 0.2)0.5 (0.3 to 1.7)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)0.6 (0.4 to 1.9)0.1 (0.1 to 0.1)0.5 (0.3 to 1.8)
Australasia0.3 (0.1 to 0.8)3.9 (1.8 to 9.1)0.4 (0.2 to 1.0)4.6 (2.1 to 10.1)0.3 (0.2 to 0.9)4.2 (2.1 to 9.6)0.1 (0.0 to 0.2)1.0 (0.5 to 2.3)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.2 (0.5 to 2.6)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.1 (0.5 to 2.5)
Europe, Central0.5 (0.4 to 1.1)6.0 (3.7 to 10.7)0.7 (0.6 to 1.5)7.0 (4.3 to 12.3)0.7 (0.5 to 1.3)6.6 (4.0 to 11.6)0.1 (0.1 to 0.3)1.6 (0.9 to 2.8)0.2 (0.1 to 0.4)1.8 81.1 to 3.3)0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)1.7 (1.0 to 3.1)
Europe, Eastern0.6 (0.3 to 0.9)6.3 (3.0 to 10.4)0.8 (0.4 to 1.3)7.4 (3.5 to 12.1)0.7 (0.4 to 1.2)7.0 (3.3 to 11.4)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.6 (0.8 to 2.7)0.2 (0.1 to 0.4)1.9 (0.9 to 3.2)0.2 (0.1 to 0.3)1.8 (0.8 to 3.0)
Europe, Western0.3 (0.2 to 0.6)3.2 (2.3 to 5.5)0.5 (0.3 to 0.7)3.8 (2.6 to 6.3)0.4 (0.3 to 0.6)3.5 82.5 to 6.0)0.1 (0.0 to 0.1)0.8 (0.6 to 1.4)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.0 (0.7 to 1.6)0.1 (0.1 to 0.1)0.9 (0.6 to 1.6)
North America, high-income0.2 (0.1 to 0.4)2.0 (1.5 to 3.6)0.4 (0.2 to 0.5)2.4 (1.8 to 4.3)0.3 (0.2 to 0.5)2.2 (1.7 to 3.9)0.1 (0.0 to 0.1)0.5 (0.4 to 0.9)0.1 (0.1 to 0.1)0.6 (0.5 to 1.1)0.1 (0.0 to 0.1)0.6 (0.4 to 1.0)
HIC, Europe0.3 (0.2 to 0.6)3.3 (2.4 to 5.3)0.7 (0.5 to 1.1)5.2 (3.8 to 7.9)0.4 (0.3 to 0.6)3.8 (2.8 to 5.9)0.1 (0.1 to 0.1)0.9 (0.6 to 1.4)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.1 (0.8 to 1.6)0.1 (0.1 to 0.2)1.0 (0.7 to 1.6)
World1.7 (1.5 to 1.9)9.7 (8.8 to 11.5)2.3 (2.0 to 2.6)11.4 (10.3 to 13.5)1.9 (1.7 to 2.2)10.4 (9.5 to 12.3)0.4 (0.4 to 0.5)2.7 (2.4 to 3.2)0.5 (0.5 to 0.6)3.1 (2.8 to 3.7)0.5 (0.4 to 0.6)2.9 (2.6 to 3.5)

  • 95% uncertainty interval is shown in parentheses.