Asthma: Key figures and prevalence

The numbers increase each year and there are more than 180 000 people each year that die because of this condition.

 

In the UK, asthma touches 5.4 million people, which means that one in every 11 people are affected by asthma. 

 

Asthma is not contagious and it can present itself at any age. One in every 12 adults and between 6 and 10% of kids are asthmatic. Asthma can be a dangerous condition, it is estimated that every 10 seconds someone is having a potentially life-threatening asthma attack in the UK. Every day, the lives of three families are devastated by the death of a loved one to an asthma attack, and tragically two thirds of these deaths are preventable.

 

The UK has among the highest prevalence rates of asthma symptoms in children worldwide. Asthma attacks hospitalise someone every 8 minutes; 185 people are admitted to hospital because of asthma attacks every day in the UK (a child is admitted to hospital every 20 minutes because of an asthma attack).