Written By: Team Pharmacally
Medically Reviewed By: Dr. Bhavana Pandav-Wagh, MBBS, MD-Psychiatry
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released two landmark reports on 2 September 2025: World Mental Health Today: Latest Data and the Mental Health Atlas 2024. These reports present the most all-inclusive global picture of mental health prevalence, burden, system performance, and progress against international targets. The findings highlight both progress and persistent shortcomings in how countries respond to mental health needs.
Current Burden of Mental Health Conditions
Prevalence: More than 1 billion people worldwide live with a mental disorder. This equates to 1 in 7 people globally.
Common conditions: Anxiety and depressive disorders make up more than two-thirds of all cases.
Youth impact: Nearly half of all mental disorders begin before age 18. Young adults (20–29 years) show the largest increases in prevalence over the past decade.
Severe conditions: Schizophrenia affects about 1 in 200 adults, while bipolar disorder affects 1 in 150. Both are associated with significantly reduced life expectancy.
Suicide: Accounts for over 1 in every 100 deaths worldwide. For each suicide, there are around 20 attempts.
Disability and Mortality
Mental disorders cause 1 in 20 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and 1 in 6 years lived with disability (YLDs) globally.
Depression and anxiety are the leading contributors to disability, especially among people aged 15–29.
Economic Impact
Depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy US$ 1 trillion annually in lost productivity.
Schizophrenia is the most costly per person due to long-term disability and health care needs.
Mental Health System Capacity (Atlas 2024 Findings)
Health spending: Median global expenditure on mental health remains 2.1% of health budgets, with extreme gaps. Low-income countries spend less than US$ 1 per capita, compared with nearly US$ 66 in high-income countries.
Workforce: Globally, there are 13.5 specialized mental health workers per 100 000 people, but only 1–2 in low-income countries, versus over 67 in high-income countries.
Service models: Less than 10% of countries have fully transitioned from hospital-based care to community-based models. Over 60% of inpatient beds remain in psychiatric hospitals.
Primary care integration: Only 12% of countries meet all WHO criteria for full integration of mental health into primary care.
Tele-mental health: Available in 63% of countries, reflecting a growing but uneven adoption of digital health.
People with schizophrenia die on average 9 years earlier, and those with bipolar disorder 13 years earlier, often due to preventable physical conditions.
Progress and Gaps in Governance
Policies: 81% of countries report having a mental health policy or plan. However, only about half include dedicated policies for children, adolescents, or older adults.
Legislation: 72% of countries have a mental health law, but fewer than half are fully aligned with international human rights standards.
Human rights: Most countries endorse rights-based principles and many lack the resources to implement them effectively.
Emergency preparedness: 65% of countries now report having systems for mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies, higher from 45% in 2020.
Service Coverage and Quality
Only 9% of people with depression receive minimally adequate treatment worldwide.
Service coverage for psychosis is around 40%, but ranges from less than 10% in low-income countries to over 50% in higher-income countries.
Nearly half of psychiatric hospital admissions are involuntary, raising concerns about rights protections.
Suicide Prevention and Promotion
47% of countries report having a national suicide prevention strategy, though coverage varies widely.
63% report at least two functioning mental health promotion or prevention programmes, often focusing on childhood development, school mental health, and suicide prevention.
The Meaning of the Report
The two WHO reports released in September 2025 provide the clear overview to date of where global mental health stands. The data show progress in some areas, but also highlight persistent and serious gaps in resources, services, and implementation.
The reports confirm that mental health conditions are widespread, with more than one billion people affected worldwide. Anxiety and depression remain the most common disorders, while severe conditions such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder carry an uneven burden of disability and early mortality. Suicide continues to be a major cause of death, particularly among young people. These epidemiological findings reinforce that mental health is not a peripheral concern but a central public health priority.
When linked to population health outcomes, the data demonstrate significant outcomes. Mental disorders account for one in every twenty disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and one in every six years lived with disability (YLDs). This means that mental health directly contributes to reduced life expectancy, lower productivity, and long-term disability across societies. The reports also estimate that depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy one trillion US dollars annually in productivity losses. These losses are not theoretical they translate into reduced workforce participation, increased absenteeism, and higher health care expenditures in real life.
From the system perspective, the Mental Health Atlas 2024 shows that resources remain critically insufficient. Mental health receives a median of only 2% of national health budgets, a figure unchanged from earlier surveys. In low-income countries, this amounts to less than one US dollar per person per year, which is inadequate to provide even basic services. Workforce availability reflects similar disparities. While high-income countries report an average of 67 mental health workers per 100,000 populations, low-income countries often have only one or two. The implication is direct: large sections of the population in poorer regions have little or no access to professional mental health care.
Service delivery also lags behind the actual needs. Less than 10% of countries have fully transitioned from institution-based care to community-based models, even though community approaches are recognized as more effective, less direct, and better aligned with human rights. Primary health care integration remains partial, with only 12% of countries meeting all WHO criteria. This leaves most people reliant on specialist services that are concentrated in psychiatric hospitals, which are inaccessible to many and often associated with poorer quality of care. The consequence is that most individuals with mental health conditions, especially in low- and middle-income countries, either receive no treatment or inadequate treatment.
There are, however, signs of progress. More countries report having mental health policies and plans, and a growing number are aligning these with international human rights standards. Tele-mental health services have expanded to over 60% of countries, offering a new avenue for care delivery, especially in areas with limited workforce capacity. Preparedness for emergencies has improved, with 65% of countries reporting systems for mental health and psychosocial support, compared with 45% in 2020. These are concrete improvements, but they remain insufficient when measured against the overall burden.
In terms of global targets set in the Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030, most countries remain out of the way. Service coverage for depression is still at 9%, and for psychosis around 40%. Suicide mortality has shown only marginal reductions. Community-based facility numbers remain below targets, and reporting of mental health indicators is still inconsistent. This means that at the midpoint to 2030, the global community is unlikely to meet the commitments without major changes in investment and implementation.
In conclusion, the WHO reports provide a comprehensive evidence base showing that while awareness and policy development are advancing; real progress in service delivery, financing, and equity is limited. For public health systems, this means that mental health must be treated with the same urgency as other noncommunicable diseases. Expanding community-based care, scaling up workforce training, integrating services into primary care, and ensuring financial protection for patients are immediate priorities. Unless these steps are accelerated, mental health will continue to impose avoidable health, social, and economic costs worldwide.
References
World mental health today: latest data. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
Mental health atlas 2024, Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO