GENEVA — A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) reveals that more than one billion people worldwide are living with mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression. The report, released in a news release on September 2, 2025, highlights the urgent need to scale up mental health services globally due to the immense human and economic tolls of these conditions.
According to new data published in the World Mental Health Today and Mental Health Atlas 2024 reports, mental health conditions are the second-biggest reason for long-term disability, driving up healthcare costs and leading to significant economic losses. Depression and anxiety alone cost the global economy an estimated US $1 trillion annually.
Key Findings:
- Disproportionate Impact: While mental health disorders affect people of all ages, women are disproportionately impacted overall.
- Stagnant Funding: Despite some progress in mental health policies, government spending on mental health remains at just 2% of total health budgets, unchanged since 2017.
- Workforce Shortages: The global median number of mental health workers is 13 per 100,000 people, with extreme shortages in low- and middle-income countries.
- Slow Progress on Suicide: Suicide remains a leading cause of death among young people, and on the current trajectory, the world will only achieve a 12% reduction by the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) deadline, far short of the one-third reduction target.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that investing in mental health is an investment in people, communities, and economies that no country can afford to neglect. The report serves as a critical tool to inform strategies ahead of the 2025 United Nations High-Level Meeting on noncommunicable diseases in New York on September 25, 2025.
