More than 80 million Europeans with hearing loss

More is known about the levels of hearing health in Western Europe and North America than any other part of the world. This is due to the highly developed European and American health care systems.

Overall, more than one European in ten suffers some form of hearing loss.

European data

In the UK 19 percent of the men and 13 percent of women above 16 years of age report that they suffer from hearing loss. A German study indicated that the frequency in Germany may be as high as one in five. In Finland one in seven suffer from varying degrees of hearing loss In Italy one in six is suffering from some form of hearing loss. One in ten has hearing loss in Denmark and Sweden. The healthiest population in hearing terms was found in France where just 7 percent suffer from hearing loss.

Few use hearing aids

All the published survey results show that the problems associated with hearing loss are unsolved. A majority of people with hearing loss do not use hearing aids. This leaves millions of hearing impaired people in the workplace as well as elderly hearing impaired people with unnecessary losses in their level of productivity and in their quality of life. Investigations into hearing loss in various countries do not always provide fair comparisons because of differences in standards and methods used. Results may vary based on numbers of people in each study, the study methodology and variations in accepted definitions of hearing loss. The articles in these pages provide an overall view of the prevalence of hearing loss in various countries.