Dementia index - Identified Dementia Population
Analysis of those identified as living with dementia in Scotland

About this release

This is the first annual publication of the Public Health Scotland (PHS) dementia index and covers the time period 2020/21 to 2024/25. Information is reported on the last day of each year. For example, in 2024/25, this would be 31 March 2025.

In May 2023, the Scottish Government and COSLA published the Dementia Strategy, a 10-year vision for change - New dementia strategy for Scotland: Everyone's Story. This strategy set out a shared vision for dementia in Scotland over the next 10 years. As part of the delivery of the strategy there are a series of rolling two-year delivery plans.

The first two-year delivery plan Dementia Strategy: Initial Two-Year Plan was published in February 2024. As part of this strategy, PHS was commissioned to develop a dementia index. The aim of the dementia index is to get as complete a picture as possible of the number of people living in Scotland with dementia.

This publication provides information on the data collections that have been used to create the dementia index, details of the methodology used and comments on limitations of the dementia index. The dementia index contains details of every individual aged 18 and over identified with a dementia diagnosis within the data collections available and is therefore an estimate.

Using this index, the publication also presents information on the prevalence estimate of dementia at a point in time (31 March), along with demographic breakdowns such as age group, sex, health board of residence and deprivation.

The figures reported are European age-sex standardised prevalence estimates of people living with dementia in Scotland along with the number of people.  As dementia is age-related, comparing areas with different age structures can be misleading. Areas with a larger proportion of older adults will naturally have higher numbers of people living with dementia. It is also important to adjust for differences between males and females when comparing populations. This is done using a method called "European age-sex standardisation" which adjusts to account for variations in age and sex structure across groups, enabling more meaningful comparisons.

Main points

Based on the data collections available for the dementia index as at 31 March

• The number of people aged 18 and over living with dementia identified across health and social care services was 60,176 as at 31 March 2024/25. This corresponds to a prevalence estimate of 1,286 per 100,000 population.
• In 2024/25, the identified estimated prevalence of dementia for females was 1,426 per 100,000 (37,873 individuals), compared to 1,145 per 100,000 for males (22,303 individuals). This pattern, where estimated prevalence is higher among females is consistent across all the years presented in this publication.

This is a line chart showing the recorded estimated dementia prevalence by sex based on the European age standardised estimate per 100,000 for 2020/21 to 2024/25. There are two lines one showing the trend for females and the second the trend for males. Prevalence in females is consistently higher and is just above 1,400 in all years. Prevalence in males is also broadly stable over time at just under 1,200.

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Recorded estimated dementia prevalence in Scotland by sex, European age standardised estimate per 100,000, 2020/21 - 2024/25¹

1. Figures for 2024/25 are provisional and subject to future revision

• The estimated prevalence of dementia increases with age. The 18-59 age group had an estimated prevalence of 43 per 100,000, the 80-84 age group of 9,140 per 100,000, the 85-59 age group of 15,600 per 100,000 and the 90 plus age group had an estimated prevalence of 22,466 per 100,000 in 2024/25.
• The estimated prevalence of dementia increases with age. The 18-59 age group had an estimated prevalence of 43 per 100,000, the 80-84 age group of 9,140 per 100,000, the 85-59 age group of 15,600 per 100,000 and the 90 plus age group had an estimated prevalence of 22,466 per 100,000 in 2024/25.

Background

It is important to distinguish between dementia and cognitive impairment. Dementia is a clinical syndrome with defined diagnostic criteria and common examples include Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal lobar degeneration and mixed pathologies. All dementia involves cognitive impairment, but not all cognitive impairment is dementia. Cognitive impairment is a broad term describing deficits in cognitive function and can sometimes be reversible depending on the cause, whereas dementia is a specific clinical syndrome which is usually progressive and irreversible. This publication focuses specifically on dementia.

To create the dementia index, Public Health Scotland explored numerous administrative data collections looking for any individual with a recording of dementia. This methodology was chosen to capture as many people as possible by cross-referencing different health and social care data sources that contain patient level information. Please see full report for more detailed information and the list of data collections used to create the dementia index.

There are two areas where people could potentially be diagnosed/treated for dementia where information was not available to be included in the development of the dementia index. These are GP consultations and hospital outpatient appointments. Information on GP consultations is not currently available to PHS at individual level and the hospital outpatient information available does not capture the identification of people with dementia.

This means the dementia index will not give a complete picture of everyone living with dementia. However, it does provide a step forward in the understanding of who is living with dementia, and the services they receive.

The dementia index is an important tool given that Scotland’s ageing population is expected to lead to an increase in the number of people living with dementia. Understanding the scale of demand and where demand for services will arise is essential. Enhanced knowledge about individuals living with dementia will support improved care planning and service design, promote fairer access, reduce inequalities, and enable earlier intervention for individuals and their families.

Further information

The date of the next release of this publication is to be confirmed.