Demographics of sight loss
- Every day in the UK another 100 people start to lose their sight.
The vast majority of people with sight problems are older people, aged 65 and over.
Most older people with sight problems started to lose their sight later in life.
About 2,000,000 (two million) people in the UK have significant sight loss.
There are an estimated 25,000 children with sight problems in the UK, about 12,000 of these children also have other disabilities.
Seventy percent of blind and partially sighted adults have other disabilities or long term health problems in addition to their sight loss.
Over 50 per cent of all sight problems in older people are estimated to be due to untreated refractive error or cataracts.
The prevalence of sight loss increases with age, and the UK population is ageing. In addition there is a growing incidence in key underlying causes of sight loss such as obesity and diabetes. This means, that without action, the numbers of people with sight problems in the UK are likely to increase dramatically over the next 25 years.
Statistical data
Data on registered severely sight impaired and sight impaired people (formerly referred to as blind and partially sighted people) are available for:
England
The NHS Information Centre publishes the statistics annually. The latest data are for 2008.
Scotland
The Scottish Government publishes the statistics annually. The latest data are for 2008.
Wales
The Wales Council for the Blind gathers data on people with sight loss.
Northern Ireland
There is no official source of data on sight loss in Northern Ireland.
Diagnosis of sight impairment
Ophthalmologists decide if a person can be registered as “severely sight impaired” (formerly known as registered blind) if, with corrected vision, they can only read the top letter of the eye chart from three metres or less.
You can be registered as “sight impaired” (formerly, partially sighted) if, with corrected vision, you can only read the top letter of the eye chart from six metres or less.
A fully sighted person is able to read the top letter of the chart at a distance of 20 metres.
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- Date: May 2009