Glaucoma is very common. It affects roughly 80 million adults worldwide over the age of 40, making it the second most common cause of blindness globally. In the United States alone, more than 3 million people are living with glaucoma, and that number is expected to double to 6.3 million by 2050 as the population ages.
How Common Glaucoma Is by the Numbers
About 2.8% of adults aged 40 and older have the most prevalent form, open-angle glaucoma. That may sound small, but applied to the global population it translates to roughly 80.5 million people. By 2060, that figure is projected to climb to nearly 193 million, driven by population growth, aging, and rising rates of severe nearsightedness (which independently raises glaucoma risk).
Open-angle glaucoma accounts for at least 90% of all glaucoma cases. It develops slowly, usually without pain or noticeable symptoms in the early stages, which is why it’s often called the “silent thief of sight.” The less common type, angle-closure glaucoma, makes up most of the remaining cases and can come on suddenly with intense eye pain and rapid vision changes.
Age Is the Biggest Factor
Glaucoma becomes dramatically more common as you get older. Among adults in their 40s, the prevalence is about 0.8%, or roughly 1 in 125 people. By the time you reach your 60s, that rises to about 2.5%, or 1 in 40. For people over 80, the rate jumps to approximately 7.5%, meaning roughly 1 in 13 has glaucoma. This steady climb with age is the primary reason the disease is projected to affect so many more people in the coming decades.
Some Populations Face Higher Risk
Your ethnic background significantly affects your likelihood of developing glaucoma. A large multicenter study found that Black individuals had roughly 2.75 times the prevalence of glaucoma compared to white individuals after adjusting for age. Mixed-race individuals had about 1.85 times the prevalence. These differences appear across multiple studies and populations, not just one region.
In the United States, African Americans develop glaucoma at younger ages and experience faster progression. Hispanic and Latino populations also face elevated risk, particularly after age 65. Asian populations have higher rates of angle-closure glaucoma specifically, even though their overall glaucoma rates are closer to those of white populations.
More Than Half of Cases Go Undetected
One of the most striking facts about glaucoma is how many people have it without knowing. Globally, more than half of all glaucoma cases are undetected. In Africa and Asia, the gap is even wider: about 77% of undetected cases worldwide are concentrated in those two regions, largely due to limited access to eye care.
This matters because glaucoma damage is irreversible. The optic nerve gradually loses fibers, and the peripheral vision loss that results cannot be restored with treatment. What treatment can do is slow or stop further damage, which is why catching it early through routine eye exams makes a real difference. Most people don’t notice their own vision narrowing until the disease is advanced, because the brain compensates for gradual peripheral loss.
What Drives These Numbers Up
Three trends are pushing glaucoma prevalence higher. The first is straightforward: populations everywhere are getting older, and age is the strongest risk factor. The second is rising rates of high myopia (severe nearsightedness), especially in East and Southeast Asia. People with high myopia have structurally different eyes that are more vulnerable to the type of nerve damage glaucoma causes. An estimated 6.1 million additional early-onset cases are expected by 2060 from myopia alone.
The third factor is better detection. As screening improves in countries that previously had limited eye care infrastructure, more cases are being identified that would have gone undiagnosed a decade ago. This creates a seeming increase in prevalence that partly reflects improved awareness rather than a true spike in new cases.
How Glaucoma Compares to Other Eye Conditions
Cataracts are far more common than glaucoma and affect nearly everyone to some degree by old age, but they’re treatable with surgery that restores vision. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide precisely because its damage is permanent. Age-related macular degeneration is similarly irreversible but tends to affect central vision rather than peripheral vision, making the two conditions quite different in how they’re experienced.
Among conditions that cause irreversible blindness, glaucoma stands out for its combination of high prevalence and silent progression. Most people with early glaucoma feel fine and see well enough to go about daily life, which is exactly why so many cases slip through undetected until significant nerve damage has already occurred.