There are over 18 million people in the UK who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus – that’s one in three people.
- Use the dashboard to explore data about hearing loss
- Find statistics on British Sign Language (BSL) users in the UK
- Find out how we calculated this data
Over 10 million people could benefit from hearing aids, but only 3 million use them
2.4 million people have a level of hearing loss that means they would struggle to hear most conversational speech
It is estimated that over 150,000 people in the UK use BSL, of whom 87,000 are deaf
1 in 7 people have tinnitus globally. In the UK, that’s over 7 million people
Hearing loss prevalence dashboard
Use our dashboard to explore prevalence data across the UK. This dashboard only includes data about hearing loss.
The figure of 18 million people who are deaf, have hearing loss or tinnitus also includes people who have tinnitus but no hearing loss. More information about how we calculate our prevalence data can be found here.
UK hearing loss and tinnitus statistics
Hearing loss by age
By age group, the proportion of people who have hearing loss is:
- 45% of people over 40
- 55% of people over 50
- 65% of people over 60
- almost 80% of people aged 70 or over
- 9 million people of working age have some degree of hearing loss
Hearing loss by nation
- over 14 million people in England
- over 1.4 million people in Scotland
- nearly 850,000 people in Wales
- over 450,000 people in Northern Ireland
1 in 7 people have tinnitus globally (Biswas et al.2022). In the UK, that’s over 7 million people.
British Sign Language (BSL) users in the UK
There is no consensus on the total number of BSL users or deaf BSL users in the UK.
There is enormous variation in the available estimates. Here we provide all available estimates.
Statistics vary depending on the data source, and whether they refer to people who use BSL as their main language, or all people who can use BSL to any level.
Estimates of the total number of BSL users
These estimates include people who can communicate in BSL, not necessarily fluently or as their main language.
- The British Deaf Association estimates that 151,000 people in the UK use BSL, of which 87,000 are deaf.
- 2022 census data found that 117,300 people in Scotland are able to use BSL. Against UK population data, that’s almost 1.5 million people who report being able to use BSL
- An independent review of BSL provision for adults in Wales (PDF) estimated that there are between 5,600–7,300 BSL users in Wales.
Estimates of people who use BSL as their main language
- 2021 census data reports 22,000 people who use BSL as their main language in England and Wales.
- It’s estimated that there are 25,000 people who use BSL as their main language across the UK.
These statistics are derived from UK Census data from 2021/2022. UK census data are likely to strongly underestimate the number of BSL users in the UK due to problems with accessibility and question phrasing.
These numbers also exclude people who would prefer to use BSL as their main language, but cannot do so due to a lack of inclusion and access.
How we calculated our prevalence data
RNID’s prevalence data is calculated using the most robust data available on the prevalence of hearing loss (four frequency average hearing levels of 25dB HL or worse in one or both ears).
Data on the prevalence of hearing loss in the UK comes from the National Study of Hearing (1995). To arrive at estimates for current prevalence levels, we combine NSH data with UK census data and ONS population projections. ICB and Health and Social Care Trust boundaries are correct as of October 2026. All figures are estimates and it is likely that this data underestimates prevalence.
According to this data, there are over 17 million people with hearing loss in the UK. RNID combined this with a literature review of the proportion of people who have tinnitus but do not have hearing loss to reach our figure of over 18 million people in the UK who are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus.
Audiometric cutoffs cannot be used to identify individual support needs such as hearing aids, employment support, and communication support needed to access healthcare.
RNID’s estimates are based on reasonable proxies for these issues and are intended to illustrate the scale of the affected population, not provide precise figures. Audiometric cutoffs should not be used to assess eligibility for support.
Statistics for small geographical areas (devolved nations and ICBs/Health Boards) are generated by applying UK-level prevalence to population data for each area. Prevalence for each area will vary due to differences in age distribution.
The raw prevalence data does not include counts from every region of the UK. When rounded and combined with filters for age and level of hearing loss, this leads to very small numbers, or zero people in some locations.
Please be aware that our statistics should be viewed as an estimate of the scale of the population, as opposed to a precisely accurate count of the number of people with hearing loss in every location.