The Global State of Health in 2021

2020 has undoubtedly been the most difficult year for everyone heath-wise. Dealing with a global pandemic whilst trying to balance work and life has taken a toll on every individual’s health in one way or another.

In Lenstore’s latest research, the team analysed statistics on global health issues aside from COVID-19, such as vision loss, obesity rates, smoking, HIV cases and mental health disorders, to highlight just how present these health topics are.

Our research found that if the population of the world was 100 people, 6 would experience vision loss, 7 would have diabetes, 23 would be obese and another 23 would be smokers. This leaves just 41 people who are either healthy, or more likely living with other forms of health conditions such as cancer or heart disease.

The importance of healthcare is forever growing and needs constant attention, but which countries are unaware of the extent of their own troubles?

Breaking down the research into health issues by country as well as analysing global statistics across regions, Lenstore highlights where the world’s health issues lay.

Columbia Has the Highest Percentage of Vision Loss in Adults at 13.7%

Colombia ranks as the number one country for loss of vision in adults with a total of 13.7%. This is broken down into 12.9% of men and 14.4% of women. When converting this into population figures, more than 6.8 million people have vision loss in Colombia.

In comparison to the global average of just 6%, it’s clear to see how prevalent vision loss is for the country.

Costa Rica follows Colombia in the rankings placing second with 13.3% of its population experiencing vision loss. With a make-up of 10% men and 11.4% women, Hungary completes the top three ranking with an overall average of 10.8% vision loss within adults.

Stand out countries such as the United Kingdom and United States rank low in the list, with just 4.5% and 3.7% of adults having vision loss respectively.

The United States Has the Highest Percent of Obesity in Adults at 36.2%

Obesity around the world is a health concern which is constantly gaining attention due to its increase. Across 24 countries researched, the United States ranks as the country with the highest percentage of obese adults at 36.2%, compared to a global average of 23%.

We then see a drop of more than 7% before Australia ranks as the second highest country with 29% of its adults being obese. Chile rounds off the top three with 28%.

A surprising statistic in the study is that of Japan, where just 4.3% of adults in the country are obese - a near 32% difference from the United States.

The United States Reports Highest Percentage of Stress and Anxiety in Adults During COVID-19

2020 has proven to be an extremely tough year for many people’s mental health and well-being. Stress, anxiety and overall sadness are all mental health concerns that need attention to help support those in need.

Our research looked further into some worrying figures for countries around the world.

With 33% of adults who reported stress, anxiety or great sadness during COVID-19, the United States ranks first, followed by the United Kingdom and Canada.

Study Reveals Australia Has the Highest Percentage of Cancer Rates per 100,000 People

As the world continues to fight the battle against cancer with research being carried out every single day, we are still unfortunately seeing a rise in the disease across countries, causing distress to many families and friends.

Our study looked into the cancer rates per 100,000 people for some of the world's biggest countries. It found that Australia has the highest % of cancer patients per 100,000 with 0.47%.

Chile follows Australia with 0.41% cancer rates per 100,000 people. Ireland ranks third at 0.37%.

The United States Has the Highest Number of People With HIV/Aids at Over 1 Million

A statistic that was produced from our study is that of HIV and AIDS numbers within populations around the world. The clear stand out figure is that of the US, with more than 1 million people having the infection.

What puts this into perspective is that Finland, who ranks second in the study has 180,000 cases within its population - almost 10 times less. However, when you take into account the population differences, Finland has more people with HIV/AIDS (3.26%) v.s the USA (0.33%). Spain completes the top 3 with 150,000 people having the infections.

At 38% Chile Has the Highest Number of Smokers of All Countries

Despite the large efforts to cut smoking down across the world knowing the harm it causes to our health, it’s clear that smoking remains very apparent.

From our study, Chile ranks as the country with the highest smoking rates, equating to 38% of its population. Austria follows with 35.15% and then the Czech Republic with 33.2%.

Since the statistics show that over a third of the population for these countries are smoking, it raises the question of how we can support and raise awareness to help reduce this number, improving consumers health.

At 10.8%, the United States Has the Highest Percentage of Diabetics in its Population

When looking into diabetes and its presence among 20-79 year olds, the USA ranked first. At 10.8% of its population, the US is 0.4% higher than Germany (10.4%) which placed second. Portugal ranked third with 9.8%.

The United Kingdom ranks second from last in the study, with just 3.9% of its adults aged 20-79 having diabetes.

Methodology

We collected data across more than 10 health metrics for 24 countries around the world, analysing the state of health around the world.

Recording this data as a percentage where possible, we ranked each country to show which are experiencing the highest levels of health concerns.

Sources

• data.oecd.org
• data.worldbank.org
• en.wikipedia.org
• iapb.org
• ourworldindata.org
• statista.com
• worldometers.info
• worldpopulationreview.com
• worldpopulationreview.com