Neurological Disorders
Global mortality data, country rankings, and trends for Neurological Disorders from 1990 to 2021.
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Neurological Disorders is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease. This page presents data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global Burden of Disease Study, showing mortality trends, country rankings, and regional patterns. Understanding the epidemiology of neurological disorders helps inform public health interventions and resource allocation.
This data is sourced from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, processed via Our World in Data. Values represent each cause's share of total deaths (%) unless otherwise noted. Explore related mortality data using the links below.
Neurological disorders encompass a wide range of conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system — including epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron diseases (such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), migraine disorders, and neuropathies. This category excludes Alzheimer's disease, other dementias, and Parkinson's disease, which are tracked separately due to their large and growing mortality burden. The Global Burden of Disease study estimates that neurological conditions collectively rank among the leading contributors to disability-adjusted life years worldwide. Epilepsy alone affects roughly 50 million people globally, with three-quarters of those in low-income countries lacking access to appropriate treatment — a phenomenon known as the epilepsy treatment gap. Motor neuron diseases, while comparatively rare, carry extremely high case fatality: median survival for ALS is two to five years from symptom onset. As populations age and infectious disease mortality declines through the epidemiological transition, neurological disorders represent a growing share of global mortality and disability, placing increasing demands on neurology workforces that remain critically understaffed in most low- and middle-income countries.
Prevention strategies vary considerably across neurological conditions. For epilepsy, ensuring access to affordable antiseizure medications — particularly in low-resource settings — prevents the majority of seizure-related deaths, while addressing perinatal injury, traumatic brain injury, and central nervous system infections reduces incidence. Disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis have improved long-term outcomes in high-income settings, though access remains limited elsewhere. Motor neuron diseases currently lack curative treatments, making supportive care, respiratory management, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation the primary means of extending survival. Broader investments in neonatal care, road safety, infectious disease control, and neurology workforce training offer the greatest population-level returns for reducing neurological mortality across diverse settings.