Fact · Accessibility and health
7.1percent of primary school children
A 2022 meta-analysis put the pooled worldwide prevalence of developmental dyslexia among primary school children at 7.10 percent, with a higher rate in boys (9.22 percent) than in girls (4.66 percent).
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“The pooled prevalence of DD was 7.10% (95% CI: 6.27-7.97%). The prevalence in boys was significantly higher than that in girls (boys: 9.22%, 95%CI, 8.07-10.44%; girls: 4.66%, 95% CI, 3.84-5.54%; p < 0.001)”
Prevalence of Developmental Dyslexia in Primary School Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Liping Yang et al., Brain Sciences (MDPI), 2022, Abstract, Results.
Open the original (DOI 10.3390/brainsci12020240)- What it measures
- DD stands for developmental dyslexia. The authors pooled 58 prevalence studies published up to June 2021 with a random-effects model. They found no significant difference between alphabetic scripts such as English and logographic scripts such as Chinese.
- What it does not show
- Studies used different cut-offs and diagnostic tests, and heterogeneity was high. Other sources quote figures of 10 percent or more because they count milder reading difficulties. The figure covers children, not adults.