Kidney disease rates worldwide have doubled, affecting nearly 800 million people.
A sweeping new analysis has found that kidney disease rates have more than doubled worldwide since 1990, with nearly 800 million people now living with reduced kidney function. The research, led by teams from NYU Langone Health, the University of Glasgow, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, places chronic kidney disease among the ten leading causes of death globally for the first time.
The study tracked data from 133 countries and more than two thousand published papers, providing one of the clearest pictures yet of how widespread kidney problems have become. About 14 percent of adults across the globe are believed to have some form of chronic kidney disease. In 2023 alone, roughly 1.5 million people died from it—an increase of more than six percent compared to rates thirty years ago, even when accounting for changing age patterns across populations. These findings show that disease rates continue to climb in step with global aging and lifestyle changes.
Kidney disease develops slowly, often without symptoms in the early stages. Over time, the organs lose their ability to filter waste and excess fluids from the blood, leading to serious complications. In advanced stages, patients may need dialysis or a kidney transplant to survive. Many people do not know they have the condition until it becomes severe, which researchers say is one reason it continues to spread unchecked.
The World Health Organization recently added chronic kidney disease to its list of top health priorities. The agency has set a goal of cutting early deaths from major non-infectious diseases, including kidney failure, by one-third before 2030. Researchers say that reaching this target will require better screening, more affordable treatment, and stronger public awareness about the importance of kidney health.
The new findings were released in The Lancet and presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology. The data were gathered as part of the Global Burden of Disease study, the largest ongoing project tracking illnesses and causes of death across the globe. Beyond counting deaths, the researchers examined how much disability the condition causes and how it contributes to other diseases.
One of the report’s most striking conclusions is that kidney disease not only kills directly but also worsens heart disease. Impaired kidney function was tied to about 12 percent of cardiovascular deaths worldwide. The study also ranked it as the 12th leading cause of reduced quality of life due to disability. The main risk factors included high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and obesity—all of which are increasingly common in both wealthy and developing nations. The researchers warned that if disease rates keep rising, health systems could face an even greater strain over the next decade.
Experts noted that most patients identified in the research were still in early stages of the disease, a hopeful sign since early treatment can prevent kidney failure. Lifestyle changes, blood pressure control, and newer drug options can help protect kidney function if started soon enough. Yet in many low-income regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Southeast Asia, dialysis and transplants remain out of reach for most patients because of high costs and limited resources.
Study co-lead author Dr. Morgan Grams said that chronic kidney disease continues to be underdiagnosed and undertreated. She stressed the need for more routine urine testing to catch the illness early and for better access to medications that can slow its progression. New treatments introduced over the past few years can also reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure among kidney patients, but widespread access remains a challenge.
Researchers also warned that since testing rates are low, the true number of people with kidney disease is likely even higher than the current estimates. As the world population grows older and rates of diabetes and hypertension climb, experts expect the burden to keep rising unless health systems act quickly to expand prevention and care. The report concludes that only broad improvements in screening, treatment, and prevention can slow the growth of global disease rates linked to kidney failure.
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Study shows record surge in reduced kidney function worldwide
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