Hearing aid statistics span a much larger subject than device ownership. The evidence below covers worldwide hearing loss, U.S. hearing difficulty and use, help-seeking, adoption, adherence and measured associations with daily life and depression, with each figure tied to its population and period.
Key Hearing Aid Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In current estimates reported by WHO in 2024, about 1.5 billion people worldwide lived with some degree of hearing loss.
- In current estimates reported by WHO in 2024, around 430 million people worldwide required rehabilitation for hearing loss.
- WHO projected that 2.5 billion people worldwide will have some degree of hearing loss by 2050.
- WHO projected that more than 700 million people worldwide will have disabling hearing loss by 2050.
- WHO estimated in 2024 that more than 400 million people worldwide could benefit from hearing-aid use alone.
- WHO estimated in 2024 that 17% of people who could benefit from hearing aids used them worldwide.
- In 2019, 7.1% of U.S. adults aged 45 and over used a hearing aid.
- In 2019, 14.4% of U.S. adults aged 65 and over used a hearing aid.
- In 2019, 2.3% of U.S. adults aged 45–64 used a hearing aid.
- NIDCD estimated that 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from hearing aids, based on 2015–2020 NHANES calculations.
- NIDCD estimated that 16% of U.S. adults aged 20–69 who could benefit had ever used hearing aids.
- NIDCD estimated that 30% of U.S. adults aged 70 and older with hearing loss who could benefit had ever used hearing aids.
- In 2019, 8.9% of U.S. men aged 45 and over used hearing aids, compared with 5.4% of women.
- A review of literature through February 2022 reported that people waited an average of 9 years to seek help for hearing loss.
- Longitudinal studies summarized through February 2022 found approximately 8.5% five-year incidence of hearing-aid adoption among people with hearing loss at baseline.
- A 2023 meta-analysis estimated 62.3% pooled hearing-aid use among adults in its included studies.
- The same meta-analysis estimated that 38% of patients did not use their hearing-aid devices.
- NIDCD reported that 28% of adults over age 52 with moderate-to-severe hearing loss had difficulty with daily activities.
Contents
- Global hearing loss and hearing aid scale
- U.S. hearing aid use by age
- Hearing aid statistics by sex, race and Hispanic origin
- Hearing aid access and help-seeking trends
- Hearing aid adherence and rejection evidence
- Hearing loss outcomes and potential hearing aid benefit
Global Hearing Loss and Hearing Aid Scale
WHO’s worldwide figures describe hearing loss and rehabilitation need, not retail sales or device ownership. They also mix current estimates with forecasts and economic models, so the measures should not be treated as interchangeable.
- WHO’s current estimate reported in 2024 was about 1.5 billion people worldwide with some degree of hearing loss.
- Around 430 million people worldwide required hearing-loss rehabilitation in the WHO estimate reported in 2024; this is broader than hearing-aid use alone.
- WHO reported that more than 5% of the world’s population, or about 430 million people, required rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss in the current estimate reported in 2026, including 34 million children and needs beyond hearing aids.
- About 95.1 million children aged 5–19 worldwide lived with hearing loss in the current estimate reported in 2026.
- More than 1 billion young adults were estimated to be at risk of permanent avoidable hearing loss from unsafe listening practices in the current estimate reported in 2026; this is a risk estimate, not a count of current users.
| WHO measure | Figure | Period and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Some degree of hearing loss | 2.5 billion | 2050 forecast, worldwide |
| Disabling hearing loss | More than 700 million | 2050 forecast, worldwide |
| Disabling hearing loss share | About 1 in 10 people | 2050 forecast, worldwide |
| People who could benefit from hearing aids alone | More than 400 million | Estimate reported 2024, worldwide |
| Potential beneficiaries using hearing aids | 17% | Estimate reported 2024, worldwide |
WHO’s projections concern the world’s future burden: by 2050, disabling hearing loss is projected to affect about one in ten people worldwide. Nearly one in four people older than 60 was affected by disabling hearing loss in the current estimate reported in 2024, but disabling hearing loss is not identical to hearing-aid ownership.
The economic estimates also describe the cost of unmet need rather than product spending. WHO estimated that unaddressed hearing loss creates an annual global cost of almost US$1 trillion, while scaling up ear and hearing care would require less than US$1.40 additional investment per person per year and could return nearly US$16 over 10 years for every US$1 invested; the return is a modeled estimate, not a clinical-trial result.
Sources: WHO, “Deafness and hearing loss” and WHO, “Hearing aid service delivery approaches for low- and middle-income settings”.
U.S. Hearing Aid Use by Age
The CDC’s 2019 estimates come from the redesigned National Health Interview Survey of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population. Hearing difficulty in this section is self-reported, including difficulty even when using a hearing aid.
| U.S. population, 2019 | Hearing-aid use | Some difficulty even with a hearing aid |
|---|---|---|
| Adults aged 45 and over | 7.1% | — |
| Adults aged 45–64 | 2.3% | 13.6% |
| Adults aged 65 and over | 14.4% | 26.8% |
| Adults aged 18–44 | — | 6.3% |
| Adults aged 18 and over | — | 13.0% |
In 2019, 1.6% of U.S. adults aged 18 and over had a lot of difficulty hearing or could not hear at all even when using a hearing aid. The CDC figures measure reported experience, not a clinical fitting rate or an objective test result.
NIDCD’s estimates add an audiometric definition to the picture. In its 2015–2020 NHANES-based estimates, disabling hearing loss meant hearing loss of at least 35 dB in the better ear.
- Disabling hearing loss affected about 5% of U.S. adults aged 45–54.
- It affected about 10% of adults aged 55–64.
- It affected about 22% of adults aged 65–74.
- It affected about 55% of adults aged 75 and older.
NIDCD estimated that 28.8 million U.S. adults could benefit from hearing aids. Among adults who could benefit, approximately 16% of those aged 20–69 had ever used hearing aids, compared with about 30% of adults aged 70 and older with hearing loss; ever-use is not the same as current or consistent use.
Sources: CDC/NCHS, “Hearing Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2019” and NIDCD, “Quick Statistics About Hearing, Balance, & Dizziness”.
Hearing Aid Statistics by Sex, Race and Hispanic Origin
The 2019 CDC survey found a sex difference in reported hearing-aid use among U.S. adults aged 45 and over. These are self-reported survey estimates, and the available supplied race and Hispanic-origin evidence is narrower than the age and sex comparisons.
| U.S. group, 2019 | Hearing-aid use |
|---|---|
| Men aged 45 and over | 8.9% |
| Women aged 45 and over | 5.4% |
| Men aged 45–64 | 2.8% |
| Women aged 45–64 | 1.9% |
| Men aged 65 and over | 19.2% |
| Women aged 65 and over | 10.6% |
Among non-Hispanic White adults aged 45–64, 16.4% reported some hearing difficulty despite a hearing aid in 2019. The CDC identifies race and Hispanic-origin groups as survey categories, so this single supplied comparison should not be generalized to all racial or ethnic populations.
The sex pattern is visible in both age bands: reported use was higher for men than women among adults aged 45–64 and among adults aged 65 and over. The figures do not explain whether differences reflect hearing-loss prevalence, access, clinical recommendations, purchasing decisions or other factors.
Source: CDC/NCHS, “Hearing Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2019”.
Hearing Aid Access and Help-Seeking Trends
A systematic review of adult hearing help-seeking and hearing-aid uptake identified 42 eligible studies published from 2011 through early 2022. It summarized international evidence on conventional hearing aids, not a single population prevalence rate.
- About 67% of the reviewed studies were rated as low level of evidence.
- About 86% were rated fair quality, according to the review authors’ quality assessment.
- 70% of the research focused on hearing-aid uptake, while 30% focused on help-seeking; these percentages describe research emphasis, not population behavior.
The review’s cited research reported an average wait of 9 years to seek help for hearing loss, although the delay can vary by country and by how help-seeking is defined. In a U.S. national study cited by the review, 32% of adults with hearing difficulty had never seen a physician about their hearing problems and 28% had never had a hearing test.
Study-specific examples show why access statistics need context. Only 29% of Malaysian adults with self-perceived hearing loss sought professional help in one cited study, while only 14% of South African people who failed an app-based digits-in-noise hearing test followed up with an audiologist in another cited study.
The review also reported an external estimate that fewer than 11% of people with disabling hearing loss acquire hearing aids worldwide. This estimate is not directly interchangeable with WHO’s 17% estimate among people estimated to benefit from hearing aids, because the populations, definitions and source methods differ.
Hearing Aid Adherence and Rejection Evidence
A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis included 21 studies of adult hearing-aid adherence and rejection, representing 12,696 people across heterogeneous populations and definitions.
| Meta-analysis measure | Estimate | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Pooled hearing-aid use | 62.3% | Random-effects pooled proportion |
| 95% confidence interval | 53.1%–71.4% | Interval around the pooled estimate |
| Patients not using devices | 38% | Complement of pooled-use result |
The pooled estimate should not be read as a universal ownership or adherence rate. The review reported extremely high heterogeneity, meaning the included studies differed substantially enough that their combined result requires caution.
The earlier help-seeking review found approximately 8.5% five-year incidence of hearing-aid adoption among people with hearing loss at baseline and approximately 36% over 10 years. Incidence in these longitudinal cohorts is not the percentage of all adults currently using hearing aids.
Source: “Factors Impacting the Use or Rejection of Hearing Aids—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis” and the 2022 systematic review.
Hearing Loss Outcomes and Potential Hearing Aid Benefit
The supplied NIDCD comparisons describe associations and differences between groups; they do not isolate the causal effect of hearing aids. They are useful for showing why hearing loss can affect more than hearing, while keeping treatment conclusions appropriately limited.
- About 28% of adults over age 52 with moderate-to-severe hearing loss experienced difficulty with daily activities, compared with 7.3% of people over age 52 without hearing loss.
- About 8% of U.S. adults aged 20–69 had depression based on the PHQ-9 measure, compared with about 18% of those with moderate or worse hearing loss.
- About 17% of U.S. adults with one or more monthly tinnitus occurrences had depression based on the PHQ-9 measure.
- About 13% of people aged 12 and older in the United States had hearing loss in both ears on standard hearing examinations, corresponding to about 30 million people.
The daily-activity and depression figures are comparison statistics, not hearing-aid outcome rates. In particular, the 18% depression estimate is an association statistic and does not show that hearing aids caused or prevented depression.
These distinctions matter when interpreting hearing-aid benefit. A population estimate of hearing loss, a survey estimate of device use, an ever-use measure, a pooled adherence result and a clinical outcome comparison answer different questions and should not be combined as though they were one adoption statistic.
Source: NIDCD, “Quick Statistics About Hearing, Balance, & Dizziness”.