Epidemiology of myopia

Myopia, also known as nearsightedness, is a common type of refractive error with usual onset in childhood characterized by the visual blurring of distant objects which results in variable visual impairment. It's influenced by genetic and environmental factors.. It is one of various leading causes of blindness (or severe visual impairment) worldwide. Elongated axial length of the eye is the most common causative mechanism for myopia. Risk factors of myopia include being constantly present in low-light environments, low amounts of time spent outdoors (which would also mean high amounts of time spent outdoors), higher education level, high amounts of time spent engaging in near activities (e.g. reading, playing videogames, watching television, etc.), season of birth, a family history of myopia, parental smoking, being of East/Southeast Asian ethnicity, Orthodox Jewish ethnicity, living in northern latitudes, higher intelligence, darker iris colour, and having higher nuclear opacity. Treatment methods include the use of eyeglasses, contact lenses, orthokeratology, atropine, and/or LASIK eye surgery.

The epidemiology of myopia varies across populations, its prevalence among schoolchildren worldwide is higher among those living in Asian countries (70%), followed by North American countries (40%), South American countries, and African countries (both under 10% incidence).

Overall, around 25–30% of the world's combined population suffers from varying degrees of myopia, and of these people, around one-fifth suffer from high myopia (typically defined as myopia of −6.0 D or more). The total prevalence rate of high myopia varies across age groups, ethnic groups, and geographical locations ranges between 0.08% (among 0-3 year old Chinese infants) and 36.9% (among first-year Taiwanese university students) have been reported across the world.

The condition's prevalence rate is only expected to increase, with a future estimated worldwide myopia prevalence rate of around 50%–60% by 2050.

This article includes 91 countries worldwide.

Africa

This section includes various countries from multiple regions of Africa, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Sudan, Mozambique, Ghana, Madagascar, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Senegal, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Togo, Liberia, and Equatorial Guinea.

Africa is the continent with the lowest myopia prevalence rate in the world, the low prevalence rate is thought to be correlated with the under-industralization in said region of the world, as well as low literacy rates and the later initiation (usually after the age of 6) of academic education in life in the continent, which would theoretically reduce the amount of time children spend indoors, doing near work, preventing the onset of myopia.

A meta-analysis done in 2022 with over 24 studies which covered over 36,395 children in Africa showed a continent-wide myopia prevalence of 4.7%. The study found a slightly higher female-to-male ratio of myopia (5.3% girls compared to 3.7% boys), as well as a higher prevalence of the disease among older children than younger children (5.1% kids aged 12–18 compared to 3.4% kids aged 5–11).

Another meta-analysis done in 2022 with over 42 studies which covered 737,839 children in Africa showed that myopia (specifically childhood myopia and high myopia) is the most common in North Africa and the least common in West Africa, to be more specific; North Africa had first place in the study, with rates of 6.8%, followed by South Africa, with rates of 6.3%, East Africa, with rates of 4.7%, and West Africa, with rates of 3.5%.

Nigeria

Myopia as a whole is thought to affect less than 20% of Nigerian people.

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 1,127 schoolchildren from 12 public and private schools in Aba, Nigeria found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.7%.

A 2011 study done with 13,599 adults aged 40 and up found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.2% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 2.1%.

A 2021 study done with 1,167 schoolchildren from urban and rural areas in Enugu State, Nigeria found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.9%.

A meta-analysis done in 2020 with 11 Nigerian studies on myopia found a very variable prevalence rate of the condition across different geo-political zones in the country, ranging from 0.65% to 31.05%. Calculated median overall prevalence rate was 4.5%.

A 2014 study done with 2,898 patients of a private hospital in Jos, Nigeria found a prevalence rate of myopia of 35.8% among the 221 patients who were found to have a refractive error of any kind (myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism..).

Ethiopia

Epidemiological studies

A meta-analysis done in 2022 with 22 different studies covering a total of 23,355 individuals found an average prevalence rate of myopia of 5.10%. Out of the 4 regions in the studies, the highest rate of refractive errors (including myopia) was found in Amhara Region and the lowest was found in Addis Ababa.

A 2022 study done with 349 high school students from 21 separate high schools in Hawassa, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.05%.

A 2021 study done with 601 schoolchildren ages 6 to 18 in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 8.49%.

A 2020 study done with 1,271 students from various secondary schools in Welkite, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6.5%. There was a higher female-to-male ratio of myopia in this sample.

Another meta-analysis done in 2022 with 1,664 studies covering 20,088 individuals found a myopia prevalence rate of 4%.

A 2016 study done with 495 high school students from Gondar, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11.9%.

A 2021 study done with 529 elementary schoolchildren from Hawassa, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of refractive error of 12.9%. Among this percentage of children, myopia was the most common refractive error, with a prevalence rate of 76.5% of the RE (refractive error) sample being affected with it.

A 2022 study done with 448 medical school students in Gondar, Ethiopia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.7%, a slightly larger prevalence rate than that reported in high school students in the same area.

Tanzania

Epidemiological studies

A 2002 study done with 2,511 ethnically diverse (black Tanzanian, Asian, Arab, White, and mixed race) school students aged 11 to 27 from 5 secondary schools (4 private and 1 public) in Mwanza, Tanzania found a prevalence rate of myopia or 5.6%. Said refractive error was most commonly found among girls and those in the age group of 11–13 years old.

South Africa

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2022 with 289 students from 3 secondary schools (2 private and 1 public) in Vhembe District, South Africa found a prevalence rate of myopia of 10.4%. A higher male-to-female ratio of myopia was noted.

A study done in 2003 with 4,890 children in Durban, South Africa found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 2.9–4.0%. The condition was present in around 9.6% of 15 year olds in the study.

A study done in 2021 with 100 patients from a private optometry clinic in Thembisa, South Africa found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6.95% among the 72 patients who were found to have some type of refractive error.

A study done in 2012 with 176 participants in Cape Town, South Africa found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.4%.

Uganda

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2002 with 623 schoolchildren from primary schools in Kampala District, Uganda found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11% among the 75 children in total of the 623 which were found to have a refractive error.

Another study done in 2002 with 1,352 Ugandan soldiers found a prevalence rate of myopia of 7.40%.

Sudan

Epidemiological studies

A 2013 study done with 671,119 schoolchildren from every school (1,418, to be specific) in Khartoum, Sudan found a myopia prevalence rate of 1.50%.

A 2018 study done with 719 schoolchildren from Al Bahar Alahmar Province, Sudan found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6.6%.

Mozambique

Epidemiological studies

A 2021 study done with schoolstudents aged 12 to 20 from various secondary schools in 5 districts from Nampula Province, Mozambique found a prevalence rate of myopia of 10.4%.

Ghana

Epidemiological studies

A 2013 study done with 2,435 schoolchildren from 53 private schools in Ashanti, Ghana found a prevalence rate of myopia of around 3%.

A 2021 study done with 1,705 schoolchildren from Bongo District, Ghana found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0.8%. There was a higher female-to-male ratio of myopia in this sample.

Madagascar

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 1995 with 1,081 schoolchildren ages 8 to 14 attending primary schools in Antananarivo, Madagascar found a prevalence rate of myopia of around 1%.

Cameroon

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2001 with 2,484 black Cameroonians found a prevalence rate of myopia of 4.5%.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 1996 in the then Republic of Zaire (now known as Democratic Republic of Congo) with a total of 4,326 patients which were separated into black Zairian, black non-Zairian, and Caucasian patients found a prevalence rate of simple myopia of 33% and 1% for high myopia in black Zairian patients (and similarly in black non-Zairian patients), and a prevalence rate of simple myopia of 19% and high myopia of 2% in Caucasian patients.

Burkina Faso

Epidemiological studies

A 2010 study done with data from 4,822 participants of the 2002–2003 World Health Survey in Burkina Faso found a prevalence rate of myopia (defined in the study as "far visual difficulty") of 13%.

A 2012 study done with 315 ethnically diverse schoolchildren from 2 schools in an urban setting in eastern Burkina Faso found a prevalence rate of myopia occurring in one eye of 2.5% and a prevalence rate of myopia occurring in both eyes of 1%.

Malawi

Epidemiological studies

A 1995 study done with a total of 1,044 people separated into rural agricultural workers (510) and urban college students (534) found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.5%.

Senegal

Epidemiological studies

A 2021 study done with 1,944 participants in Saint-Louis, Senegal found a prevalence rate of myopia of 15.3%.

Somalia

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2020 with 1,204 schoolchildren (ages 6 to 15) from 8 separate primary schools in Hargeisa, Somalia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 9.1%.

Zimbabwe

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 1,038 children who visited an eye institute in Harare, Zimbabwe found a prevalence rate of myopia of 37.5%.

A study done with 519 people aged 5 to 100 years old in Mashonaland, Zimbabwe found a prevalence rate of myopia of 47.3% among the 160 participants who were found to have a refractive error.

Rwanda

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 1972 with 1,550 schoolchildren in Rwanda found 18 cases of refractive error (myopia, hypermetropia, anisometropia, etc.) which constituted a prevalence rate of refractive error of 1.2%. Out of these 18 cases, 6 had myopia.

Togo

Epidemiological studies

A 2013 study done with 13,039 schoolchildren from 66 primary schools in central Togo found a myopia prevalence rate of 5% among 366 children (of the previously mentioned thirteen thousand) who were found to have refractive errors.

Liberia

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2022 with 823 Liberian schoolchilden found a prevalence rate of refractive errors (including myopia) of 1.9%.

Equatorial Guinea

Epidemiological studies

A 2015 study done with 425 schoolchildren in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea found a prevalence rate of myopia in both eyes of 5.2% and a prevalence rate of myopia in one eye of 10.4%.

Asia

This section contains multiple countries from various regions in Asia, including China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, and India.

Nearsightedness is known for being very common in East Asian societies, especially industralized ones, possibly due to increasing reading hours and indoor time enforced by schools on children as a result of an over-prioritization of education in said region of the world. It affects as many as 80% of East Asian adults.

A meta-analysis done in 2014 with 49 different studies covering 210,512 individuals in total showed that myopia has a prevalence of around 47% among Asian adults between the ages of 20 and 29 and 36.3% among Asian adults over the age of 70.

Pathological myopia (a type of myopia which is characterized by severe nearsightedness and can lead to irreversible vision loss) is found in approximately 8% of Asian adults.

China

Between 60% and 80% of people in China are estimated to be afflicted with myopia.

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2020 with 4,081 school-aged children from 16 different schools in Eastern China (ranging from kindergartens to highschools) showed that 3,030 out of the 4,081 children had myopia, 452 had high myopia, and 2,644 had other types of visual impairment. The incidence of all three visual anomalies among schoolchildren also increased with each school grade; to be exact, myopia was present in 12% of kindergarten children, 32% of 2nd grade children, 69% of 5th grade children, and 90% of 10th grade and over children. High myopia was present in less than 1.5% of kids in 4th grade (and below), 4–7% of kids in 5th to 7th grade, 13–15% of kids in the 8th to 9th grade, and more than 20% in the 10th grade and over. Visual impairment was present in 4% of kindergarten children, 37% in elementary children, 77% in middle school children, and 87% in high school children. The study also showed that being of the female gender, being of a higher schoolgrade, and having higher amounts of schoolwork was correlated with myopia and vision impairment, while being of a higher school grade and having higher amounts of schoolwork (regardless of gender) were correlated with high myopia.

In another study done in 2020 with over 3,845 Han and Yugur Chinese people aged 40 to 80 years old living in Gansu Province, located in Northwestern China studied the prevalence of myopia, high myopia, and hyperopia. The study found that Yugur people had a myopia prevalence of 16.4%, a high myopia prevalence of 0.7%, and a hyperopia prevalence of 26.2%, while Han people had a myopia prevalence of 34.3%, a high myopia prevalence of 5.0%, and a hyperopia prevalence of 19.2%.

A meta-analysis done in 2020 with 22 studies covering 192,569 Chinese people showed a total myopia prevalence of 37.7% and a total high myopia prevalence of 3.1%. The disease was found in 4.7% (myopia) to 0.2% (high myopia) of 7 year olds and in 56.2% (myopia) to 15.1% (high myopia) of 15–18 year olds. Overall, myopia and high myopia were found to affect 84.8% and 19.3% of people aged 16 to 18, respectively.

A study done in 2022 with over 1,013,206 Chinese children from 17 school districts containing 1,254 separate schools in Weifang, China analyzed the prevalence of myopia among schoolchildren. Low myopia was shown to affect 48.56% of elementary school children, 47.30% of middle school children, and 31.62% of highschool children, while high myopia affected 1.12% of elementary school children, 8.80% of middle school children, and 20.12% of highschool children, the results also showed a large female-to-male ratio for high myopia (7.5% affected girls v. 6.4% affected boys). Overall, myopia was found in 75% of all school-children in the city.

Another study done in 2017 with 1,127 children from Shenzhen, China found a myopia incidence of 3.7% in children of the age of 6 years old.

A study was done in 2020 with the purpose of figuring out if lockdown from COVID-19 had increased the prevalence of myopia in Chinese children, the sample in the study included 1,733 and 1,728 children from Chongqing, China which were recruited for the study in 2020 and 2019, respectively. It was found that myopia incidence had indeed increased since the COVID-19 pandemic; while 44.62% of children in the 2019 sample were found to be myopes, over 55.02% of children in the 2020 sample were myopes, confirming the author's theory of an increase in myopia frequency possibly correlated with the decreased time children spent outdoors that occurred as a result of lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another 2020 Chongqing study done with 997 schoolchildren found a total prevalence rate of nearsightedness of 33.9%.

A 2016 study done with 3,055 schoolchildren from Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China showed a total prevalence of myopia of 47.4%; overall, myopia was found in 0.2% of children in the first grade, 38.8% of children in the second grade, and in 68.4% of children in the ninth grade. There was a high female-to-male ratio of nearsightedness. Casual reading was associated with myopia in boys and television watching was associated with the condition in girls.

A 2022 study done with 4,522 schoolchildren from urban and rural areas of Dalian, China showed a prevalence of myopia of 82.71% in urban children and a 71.76% prevalence rate in rural children.

A 2019 study done with 1,200 university students from Nanjing, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 86.8%. Prevalence was slightly higher among women (88.0%) than in men (86.1%).

A 2009 study done with 6,491 Chinese adults from rural Handan, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 26.7% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 1.8%.

A 2017 study done with data from Chinese National Surveys on Students' Constitution and Health done in 2005, 2010 and 2014 found a prevalence rate of myopia among children aged 7 to 18 years old of 47.4% across 31 Chinese provinces.

A meta-analysis done in 2021 with 41 studies covering 1,051,784 Chinese children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 38.0% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.8%. Myopia was found at higher rates among urban children and Northern Chinese children, while high myopia was most commonly found on Chinese territories (dependencies) that weren't located in Mainland China (such as Taiwan or Hong Kong).

Another 2017 study done with data from Chinese National Students Constitution and Health Surveys done in 2005, 2010, and 2014 found that the overall prevalence rate of myopia in Han children aged 7 to 18 in the country was increasing with time; with a prevalence of 47.5% in 2005, 55.5% in 2010, and 57.1% in 2014.

A study done in 2021 with a total of 1,245 participants between the ages of 50 and 79 years old of Tibetan Chinese (476) and Han Chinese (769) origins in Qinghai Province, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 28.56% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.80%. The condition was more common among the Han people in the study.

A study was done in 2022 with 67,102 schoolchildren from 46 different schools in Xinjiang, China with the purpose of finding the prevalence rate of myopia across 5 different ethnic groups in China: Han Chinese, Hui Chinese, Uyghur Chinese, Kyrgyz Chinese, and Kazakh Chinese; the final prevalence rate of myopia was found to be 65.8% for Han people, 59.1% for Hui people, 30.1% for Uyghur people, 30.2% for Kyrgyz people, and 30% for Kazakh people.

A 2018 study done with 4,741 schoolchildren from 19 primary schools and 22 junior high schools (41 schools in total) in Guangzhou, China, found an overall prevalence rate of myopia between 20% and 30% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 1% among primary school students and 2% among junior high school students, with a prevalence of 12.0% among first grade students and 67.4% among seventh grade students.

A 2017 study done with ocular data from 37,424 middle school students from 8 junior high schools in Haidian District, Beijing collected between 2006 and 2015 found a prevalence rate of low, moderate, and high myopia in 2006 of 32.27%, 19.72%, and 3.96%, respectively, which later changed in 2015 to 20.73%, 38.06%, and 6.69%. These results showed that, while rates of low myopia decreased by about 12%, rates of moderate and high myopia increased consequently.

A study done in 2020 with 13,320 schoolchildren from university-oriented and non university-oriented primary schools in China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 53.8% among university-oriented primary school students and 44.7% among non university-oriented primary school students. A second criterion for a diagnosis of myopia was employed in this study, and with this specific criteria, the prevalence lowered to 41.2% and 22.7% (respectively).

A study done in 2018 with 2,432 first grade schoolstudents and 2,346 seventh grade schoolstudents, totaling 4,778 participants, from various rural schools in China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.4% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 0.1% among first grade students and a prevalence rate of the same conditions of 29.4% and 0.4% among seventh grade students, respectively.

A 2020 study done with 2,346 seventh grade urban schoolstudents in Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, China sought to find whether there was a correlation between rural-to-urban parental migration and lower rates of myopia in said parents' offspring; a portion of the children in the study had urban parents and another portion had rural parents who later migrated to urban areas in China, the final prevalence rates seemed to support the study's original idea, with approximately 29.2% of the children with rural migrant parents having myopia and 40% of the children with urban parents having myopia.

A 2018 study done with 2,346 seventh grade students from 10 middle schools in Mojiang, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 29.5%. There was a high female-to-male ratio of myopia, and the condition was more common among kids who used LED lamps for illumination during homework.

A 2014 study done with 1,675 schoolchildren from a rural area of Heilongjiang, in northern China, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 5.0%.

A 2021 study done with 5,284 patients from a tertiary care hospital in northeastern China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 38.7%.

A study done with 43,858 students in Fenghua City, China in their third year of high school tracked data for the prevalence rate of different types of myopia (determined by their severity) between 2001 and 2015. The study showed an increase in overall myopia prevalence rate from 79.5% to 87.7% in 2001 and 2015, respectively. The prevalence rates of low myopia, moderate myopia, high myopia, and very high myopia were 32.7%, 38.8%, 7.9%, and 0.8% in 2001, respectively, while the prevalence rates for the same 4 types of myopia were 24.4%, 45.7%, 16.6%, and 0.92%, in 2015, respectively.

Another study, which also looked for signs of the COVID-19 pandemic increasing the prevalence of myopia, with 913 schoolchildren attending the first to sixth grades from 6 elementary schools located in Shanxi Province, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.9% in December 2019, which later increased to 39.4% after the post-COVID resuming of school activities 6 months later (June 2020).

A study done in 2021 with 26,661 preschool-aged children in Longhua District, Shenzen, China, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.3%.

A 2013 study done with 2,893 and 2,267 schoolchildren from the first and seventh grades, respectively, from schools in Anyang, China found a prevalence rate of myopia and high myopia of 3.9% and 0.1% among first-grade students and a prevalence rate of the same variants of myopia of 67.3% and 2.7% among seventh-grade students.

A 2009 study done with 4,979 elderly people living in rural Harbin, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 9.5%.

A 2002 study done with 2,454 students from 13 different junior highschools in Yangxi County, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 36.8% among 13-year-old students and 53.9% among 17-year-old students.

A 2017 study done with 4,795 people belonging to the older age demographic living in a rural community in Suzhou, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 21.1% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.5%.

A 2019 study done with 1,626 participants belonging to the Han and Yi Chinese ethnic groups in Yunnan, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 26.35% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.64%.

A 2022 study done with 1,401 people in Tianjin, China found a prevalence rate of low myopia of 52.63%, a rate of moderate myopia of 37.41%, and a rate of high myopia of 9.96%. The overall prevalence rate of myopia was 50.18%.

A 2021 study done with 910,245 children ages 4–14 from every district in Shanghai, China found a prevalence rate of myopia of 32.9% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 4.2%.

Japan

Estimates of myopia prevalence in Japan range from 30% to 90%, depending on age group.

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2022 with 457 Japanese schoolchildren showed a myopia prevalence of 2.9% and a high myopia prevalence of 0.2%.

Another study done in 2021 with over 9,850 people from Nagahama, Japan showed a myopia incidence of 49.97% and a high myopia prevalence of 7.89%. It was most observed in participants aged 34–59, with myopia having a prevalence of 70% in people belonging to this age group and high myopia having a prevalence of 10% in the same age group.

A study done in 2022 with over 2,140 children from Tokyo, Japan found a myopia frequency of 49.7% in preschool children, 72.4% in elementary school children, and 87.7% in junior high school children. The study also found that the time one spent reading wasn't correlated with myopia, although daily screen time was correlated with lens thickness.

A study done in 2019 with 1,478 children from Tokyo, Japan found an overall incidence of myopia of 76.5% for elementary school children and 94.5% for junior high school children. High myopia was found to be present in 1.2% of elementary school children and 15.2% of junior high school children.

A study done in 1999 which consisted of the analysis of optometric examinations of Japanese students from Kashihara, Japan aged 3 to 17 years old between the years of 1983 and 1996 showed that the prevalence of myopia among 17-year-old students increased sometime in the 13-year period of the study.

A 2008 study done with 3,021 elderly people living in Tajimi, Japan with the purpose of finding the prevalence of various refractory errors within the elderly population of said city found an incidence of myopia of 41.8% and an incidence of high myopia of 8.2%.

A 2018 study done with inhabitants of the Kumejima island in Japan found a prevalence rate of myopia of 29.5% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 1.9%.

South Korea

Myopia is estimated to affect up to 70% of people in South Korea.

Epidemiological studies

In a study done with 3,398 participants of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2013–2014, myopia was found at a prevalence rate of 70.6% and high myopia was found at a prevalence rate of 8.0%.

In a study done with 983 participants of the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2016–2017 (all of which were between the ages of 5 and 18 years old), myopia was found to have an incidence rate of 65.4%, while high myopia had a lower rate at 6.9%. Factors that were found to be associated with a higher chance of myopia in the study included a high BMI, older age, and having a parent with myopia.

A 2012 study done with over 23,616 19-year-old men from Seoul, South Korea found a prevalence rate of myopia of over 96.5% and a high myopia rate of 21.61%.

A study done in 2018 with data from the Korean Military Manpower Administration found a myopia prevalence of less than 55% and a high myopia prevalence of less than 13%.

Another 2018 South Korean study done with 3,862 children from the ages of 5 to 18 years old gathered from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys IV and V dataset found a myopia prevalence of 64.6% and a high myopia prevalence of 5.4%.

A 2012 study done with data from 8,633 children who had filled in the Health Interview Survey portion of the 2005 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found a prevalence of myopia of 22.6%.

A 2013 study done with 2,805 men from the rural area of Jeju Island, South Korea found a myopia prevalence rate of 83.3% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 6.8%.

Hong Kong

Between 30% and 90% of people in Hong Kong are myopic, with numbers being closer to 70%, although the prevalence rate varies among age groups.

Epidemiological studies

A 2020 study done with 1,396 schoolchildren found a prevalence of myopia of 13.3% in children in the first grade and a prevalence rate of 54.7% in children in the sixth grade. Moderate myopia was present in 1.6% of first-grade children and in 18.2% of sixth-grade children. High myopia was found to be present in 0.94% of children from the first to the third grades combined and in 1.85% of children from the fourth to the sixth grades. Total prevalence of myopia was 37.7%.

A 2012 study done with 2,651 children from the ages of 6-12 found a prevalence of myopia of 18.3% in 6-year-old children and a higher prevalence rate of 61.5% in 12-year-old children. High myopia had a total prevalence of 1.8%.

A 2004 small-scale study done with 47 microscopists working in various Hong Kong hospital laboratories found a prevalence of myopia of 87%.

A 2004 meta-analysis with various studies found that 70% of 17-year-olds living in Hong Kong are myopes.

In another study done in 2004 with a total of 1,078 students of ethnic Chinese, mixed European and Asian, white, and other kinds of Asian origins from 3 local and 6 international schools in Hong Kong found a prevalence of 85 to 88% among students from local schools and a prevalence of 60 to 66% among students from international schools, furthermore; myopia was most commonly found among ethnic Chinese students with an average prevalence rate of 82.8%, while it was the least common among white students, with an average prevalence rate of 40%.

A 2020 study done with 4,257 children from the ages of 6 to 8 and 5,880 of their parents found a myopia prevalence rate of 12.7% among 6 year olds, 24.4% among 7 year olds, and 36.1% among 8 year olds. High myopia was found in 0.7% of the 8-year-old children. There was a high male-to-female-ratio of myopia patients. Furthermore; 72.8% of the parents had myopia themselves (with a higher female-to-male ratio), and 13.5% had high myopia (with a higher male-to-female ratio).

Taiwan

Between 20% and 80% of people in Taiwan are estimated to have myopia.

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2004 with data from 5 surveys done across the country in the years of 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995, and 2000 showed an increase in myopia cases in recent years compared to previous years; in the 1983 survey, myopia only affected 5.8% of children aged 7, 36.7% of children aged 12, 64.2% of people aged 15, and 74% of people aged 16 to 18, while in the 2000 survey it was shown to affect 21% of children aged 7 (15.2% increase), 61% of children aged 12 (24.3% increase), 81% of people aged 15 (16.8% increase), and 84% of people aged 16 to 18 (10% increase). The incidence of high myopia was also found to have increased; while in 1983, 10.8% of 18 year old Taiwanese people had high myopia, about 21% of the people in the same age group were found to have high myopia in 2000 (10.2% increase).

A study done in 2021 with data from surveys done between the years of 1983 and 2017 showed a prevalence rate of myopia in 1983 of 5.37% in 7-year-old children and 30.66% in 12-year-old children to 25.41% in 7-year-old children and 76.67% in 12-year-old children in 2017. In 1983, high myopia was found at a prevalence rate of 1.39% of 12-year-old children and in 4.37% of 15 year old people, this number increased in the year 2017 to affect 4.26% of 12-year-old children and 15.36% of 15 year old people.

A study was published in 2022 with 21,761 kindergarten students in Yilan, Taiwan with the purpose of monitoring the prevalence of myopia after certain prevention methods were implemented in the academic environments the children attended, and it was found to have successfully reduced myopia incidence from 15.5% (in 2014) to 8.4% (in 2016). Overall myopia incidence was 10%.

A 2020 study done with 5,417 elementary and junior highschool children in Chia-Yi, Taiwan found a myopia prevalence of 42.0% and a high myopia prevalence of 2.0%.

A nation-wide study published in 2012 with 20,609 found a myopia prevalence rate of 46.7%. Prevalence was higher among those aged 12–19 and in women.

A 2016 study done with 11,590 schoolchildren in Taipei, Taiwan attending the second grade of primary school found a prevalence rate of myopia of 36.4%.

Singapore

Singapore is often called the "myopia capital of the world" due to its extremely high incidence rate of myopia. Overall estimates range from 60% to 80%.

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 1992 with the data of over 421,116 Singaporean men from 1974 to 1991 showed an increase of the statistical incidence of myopia from only 26.3% in 1974–84 to 43.3% in 1987–91. The data also indicated that the frequency of nearsightedness was higher among those who had higher education levels than those who had low to non-existent education levels; while only 15.4% of men with no previous education were myopes, prevalence rates among those with normal education levels was more than 65.2% for those with a GCE 'A' level of education, 57.5% for diploma holders, and 65.1% for university graduates.

Another study done in 1993 with the data of 110,236 Singaporean men of various ethnic backgrounds (Chinese, Malay(sian), Indian and mixed European with Asian, to be specific); the rates of myopia were found to be 48.5% for Chinese-Singaporeans, 34.7% for those of mixed European and Asian ancestry, 30.4% for Indian-Singaporeans, and 24.5% for Malayasian-Singaporean men, moreover; another study done by the same researchers with the same ethnically diverse group of men found nearsightedness at higher rates among those with higher education levels.

A 2011 study done with 3,400 elderly people of Indian descent living in Singapore found a myopia prevalence rate of 28.0% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 4.1%.

A 2017 study comparing the prevalence of myopia among people born between the 1920s and the 1980s with information from various data cohorts found that rates of adult myopia increased in the 6-decade time period; prevalence rates were 36.4% among those who started elementary school education in 1928, 39.7% for those who started in 1934, 30.0% for those who started in 1938, 31.5% for those who started in 1939, 33.0% for those who started in 1942, 26.4% for those who started in 1948, 32.5% for those who started in 1952, 48.7% for those who started in 1958, 39.4% for those who started in 1962, 52.0% for those who started in 1972, 82.2% for those who started in 1982, and 85.9% for those who started in 1995.

A 2008 study done with 2,974 ethnic Malay Singaporeans between the ages of 40 and 80 years old found an overall myopia prevalence rate of 30.7%.

Vietnam

Myopia is estimated to affect approximately half (50%) of Vietnam's population, although incidence rates as high as 80% are seen in larger urban Vietnamese areas.

Epidemiological studies

A study published in 2020 with data collected from 4 different secondary schools from December 2018 to January 2019 in the rural town of Hoang Mai (located in Nghe An Province, Vietnam) showed an overall incidence of myopia of 14.2% in schoolchildren. While only 10.5% of children in the sixth grade were myopes, the prevalence increased to 17.7% among children in the ninth grade. The findings also showed a higher female-to-male ratio of myopia.

A 2014 study done with 2,238 schoolchildren from 13 separate secondary schools in Bà Rịa, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu province, Vietnam with the purpose of finding the causative mechanism of visual impairment in affected children found myopia in 20.4% of its sample.

Philippines

Approximately 40% of people in the Philippines are estimated to be nearsighted.

Epidemiological studies

A 2015 study done in 1,272 children from urban and rural environments in the island of Cebu in the Philippines found a myopia prevalence rate of 3% in children from rural areas and 12.5% in children from urban areas.

Malaysia

Prevalence rate of myopia in Malaysia varies across ethnic groups living together in the same country, but, overall, it is estimated to affect between 15% and 40% of people in the country.

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2006 with 1,752 ethnic Malay children that were either living in Malaysia or living in Singapore found a prevalence rate of myopia of 9.2% among Malay children living in Malaysia and a prevalence rate of 22.1% among Malays living in Singapore. They also found a prevalence rate of 30.9% among Malays living in China.

A study done in 2008 with 705 elementary schoolchildren from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 5.4% among children aged 6 to 12. The children were collected from suburban areas.

A 2005 study done with 4,634 children from Gombak District, Malaysia of various ethnix origins (Malay, Chinese, Indian, etc.) found a prevalence rate of myopia of less than 10% among 7 year olds in the study and a prevalence rate of around 30% among 15 year olds in the same study. Myopia was most commonly found in the Chinese children of the study.

A study done in 2019 with 151 Malay toddlers aged 6 to 36 months old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.3%.

A 1990 study done with 904 children in Malaysia found a myopia prevalence of 4.3% in children aged 7–8 years old and a prevalence of 25.6% in children aged 15 to 16 years old.

A study done in 2018 with 1,287 Malaysian children from various ethnic origins (including Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Orang Asli) found a prevalence of myopia of 9%.

Out of 293 native Iban and Malay children who participated in an eastern Malaysian 2012 study, 132 were found to have myopia, and of these, 72 were Iban and 60 were Malay.

Laos

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2012 with 2,899 schoolchildren from Vientiane, Laos found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0.8%, lower than that reported in typical East/Southeast Asian countries.

Thailand

Epidemiological studies

A 2021 study done with 786,729 Thai students found a high myopia incidente rate of 5.49%, among other refractive errors.

Indonesia

Between 17 and 23% of Indonesians are thought to be affected by myopia.

Epidemiological studies

A 2002 study done with 1,043 participants aged 21 and older originating from 5 rural towns and 1 provincial town (in the Riau Province) in Sumatra, Indonesia found a prevalence of myopia of 26.1% and a prevalence of high myopia of 0.8%.

Another study done in 2017 with 410 schoolchildren from 4 Indonesian school districts (3 of which were in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and 1 of which was near said city) was done with the purpose of comparing the visual acuity of children in 4 different environments; rural, exurban, suburban, and urban; they found a prevalence of refractory errors (including myopia) of 10.1% in urban children, 12.3% in suburban children, 3.8% in exurban children and 1% in rural children.

A study done in 2020 with 3,035 schoolchildren from Bandung, Indonesia found a prevalence of refractory errors (including myopia) of 15.2%.

A study published in 2017 done with 667 adults from a rural village known as Perobatang, in Indonesia's Sumba District found a myopia prevalence of 5.9%.

Sri Lanka

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with 5,799 participants from Sri Lanka showed a prevalence of myopia of 17.4%, the risk factors found in the study included being of old age (over the age of 60, to be specific) and belonging to the Sri Lankan Sinhala ethnic group.

Bangladesh

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2022 with 11,624 Bangladeshi people showed a prevalence rate of myopia of 22.1%. The condition affected more men than women in the study. Prevalence also increased with age.

Nepal

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 1999 with 555 Tibetan Nepali children and 270 Sherpa Nepalese children (giving a total of 829 children) living in Kathmandu and the Solu Khumbu region, respectively, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.9% for the Sherpa children and 21.7% for the Tibetan children. The low number of Sherpa children who were affected with myopia also had lower levels of severity of the refractive error than Tibetan children.

In a study done in 2010 with 440 Nepali children from both urban and rural areas of the country found a myopia prevalence rate of 15.5% among urban children and 8.2% among rural children.

A study done in 2009 with 4,282 schoolchildren in Kathmandu, the children were separated into two groups; those who attended private secondary schools and who belonged to upper-middle-class families, and those who lived in rural Jhapal District. Overall, myopia was found in 10% of the 10 year olds in upper-middle-class families and in 27% of 15 year olds in families of the same socioeconomic status, while it was only found in 0.5% of 10 year olds in rural Jhapal District and in 3.0% of children in the same rural area.

A 2021 study done with schoolchildren from four schools in the Palpa District, Nepal found a prevalence of myopia of 4.05%.

A study published in 2013 done with 2,000 schoolchildren from 4 schools in the Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts (respectively) in Kathmandu Valley of Nepal showed an incidence of myopia of 6.85%.

In a study done with 15,410 patients from a tertiary care hospital in Western Nepal, 10.8% of the patients were found to have some kind of refractive error; out of these refractive errors, myopia was the most common.

In a 2021 study done with 5,128 children from 18 public and private schools in Dhangadhi, Nepal (3,159 from public schools and 1,969 from private schools), myopia was found to occur at a rate of 1.5% among public schoolchildren and 2.8% among private schoolchildren.

A 2013 study done with 140 schoolchildren originating from high-altitude mountainous regions in Nepal found a prevalence rate of myopia of 27%.

India

It has been estimated that less than 10% of India's entire population is myopic.

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 meta-analysis done with 113 studies showed that overall incidence of myopia is variable among the various regions in subcontinental India; Southern India has an incidence rate between 3% and 36%, Central India has an incidence rate between 3% and 16%, Eastern India has an incidence rate between 0.60% and 14%, Western India has an incidence rate between 2% and 17%, Northern India has an incidence rate between 2% and 21%, and Northeastern India has an incidence of around 27%.

A 2021 meta-analysis done with 28,600 people from various studies between early 1999 and late 2019 showed a prevalence of myopia in 15-year-old teenagers in urban settings in India which has increased from just 4.44% in 1999 to over 21.15% in 2019.

Another meta-analysis done in 2020 with 59 studies covering 1,666,000 and 1,200,000 children living in urban and rural environments, respectively, found a myopia prevalence of 7.5% among children aged 5 to 15 and a higher prevalence rate in urban children (8.5%) than in rural children (6.1%). An increase in myopia prevalence from 4.6% to 6.8% among rural Indian children in the last 10 years was also noted.

A 2019 study done with 1,234 schoolchildren from 2 private schools in Gurugram, Northern India, found a nearsightedness prevalence rate of 21.1%.

A 2022 study found a 3.7% myopia prevalence rate among 13,572 schoolchildren from urban children in New Delhi, India.

Another 2022 study done with 1,486 schoolchildren from private and public schools in Northern India found a myopia prevalence rate of 1% among public school children and 10.1% among private schoolchildren, furthermore; myopia was most commonly found among girls than in boys. Overall myopia and high myopia prevalence was 6.4% and 1.1%, respectively.

Another 2022 study done with 14,699 Indian children ages 5 to 16 years old from 11 different schools in Tamil Nadu, India found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.5% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 0.5%.

A study done in 2007 with 2,317 schoolchildren ages 5 to 10 from Kolkata, India found a prevalence rate of myopia of 14.02%.

A 1999 study done with 2,321 people living in Andhra Pradesh, India found a prevalence rate for myopia of 4.4% for those older than 15 years old and 19.39% for those 15 years old or younger.

Pakistan

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2019 with 1,000 schoolchildren from 4 highschools in Lahore, Pakistan showed a prevalence rate of myopia of approximately 12.7%, with 127 children being found to have the condition.

A myopia prevalence rate of 36.5% was found in a sample of visually impaired Pakistanis from a 2008 study.

A 2017 study done with 620 students attending Bahauddin Zakariya University, located in Multan, Pakistan found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 24.19%. Incidence of the condition was higher among men, people aged 21, people who were the result of cousin marriages, and people belonging to big family sibships (usually of 6—9 siblings).

A 2015 study done with 300 schoolchildren from various madrassas in Haripur, Pakistan found a prevalence rate of myopia of 52.6%.

Another 2015 study done with data from 917 people aged 30 and up living in the village of Pawakah, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6%.

Out of a sample of 200 Pakistani children aged 5 to 16, a 2022 study showed that 106 out of the 200 children had some form of refractive error, and out of this group of children, 43 had myopia.

Myanmar

Epidemiological studies

A 2008 study done with 2,076 participants from rural villages in Meiktila, Myanmar found a prevalence rate of myopia of 42.7% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 6.5%.

Cambodia

Epidemiological studies

A 2012 study done with 5,527 rural and urban schoolchildren from 10 schools from Phnom Penh province and 26 schools from Kandal province (totaling 36 schools) found a prevalence rate of refractive error (including myopia) of 6.57%. The conditions were most commonly found among urban students, and myopia specifically was most commonly found among girls.

Kazakhstan

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 2,293 schoolchildren in Almaty, Kazakhstan found a prevalence rate of myopia of 28.3%. The condition was more common among children in higher school grades (particularly the 9th grade).

Middle East

This section contains various countries from multiple regions of the Middle East, including Egypt, Iran, Israel, Jordan, the Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the Palestine, and Yemen.

A 2020 meta-analysis done with various studies covering multiple populations across the Middle East found a prevalence rate of myopia of 4% among those aged 15 and below and in 31.7% of those aged 16 and up.

Egypt

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 812 people from Asyut City, Egypt found a pathological myopia prevalence rate of 9.82%.

A 2021 study done with 14,787 students from 22 different schools in 3 districts from Upper Egypt found a myopia prevalence rate of 2.3%.

A 2020 study done with 1,075 schoolchildren from both public and private schools in Tanta City, Gharbia Governorate, Egypt found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.6%.

A 2015 study done with 3,442 pre-enrollment fitness clinic students in Assiut University showed that 6.8% of them were myopes.

Iran

Estimates on the prevalence of myopia in Iran vary, as they range from 1% or less to 10% or slightly more.

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with 2,575 participants from 2 rural regions in northern and southwestern Iran found a myopia prevalence rate of 25.2%, the condition was also most prevalent among those aged 21 to 30 (with a prevalence rate of 32.9% in said age group).

A 2020 study done with students from every university in the city of Kazerun, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of 42.71%.

A study done in 2012 with the data of 4,864 people from Shahrud, Iran aged 40 to 64 years old found a myopia prevalence rate of 30.2% and a high myopia prevalence rate of 1.9%.

A study done in 2014 with the data of 434 high school students in Aligudarz, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of 29.3%. In this sample, the condition appeared to be more common among boys.

A 2022 study done with 2,001 schoolchildren in Shiraz, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11.6%.

A 2004 study done with the data of 4,354 people living in Tehran, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of 21.8%.

A 2011 study done with approximately 3,134 people living in Mashhad, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of only 3.64% for those ages 15 and below, while hyperopia was found in 27.4% of people in the same age group, while its prevalence increased to 22% among those aged 15 and up. Hyperopia was found at a rate of 34.21% in people of the latter age group.

A 2018 study done with 3,314 children aged 5 to 15 from 2 rural villages in Iran found a myopia prevalence rate of 2.60%, with slightly more myopic boys than myopic girls. Out of the two villages, which were located in southwestern and northern Iran, respectively, myopia was found at a rate of 3.09% in the northern Irani village and 2.42% in the southwestern Irani village.

A 2021 study done with 2,600 industry-worker men from Abhar, Iran found a myopia prevalence rate of 20%.

A study done in 2007 with 5,721 schoolchildren from multiple elementary, middle, and high schools in both rural and urban areas of Dezful, Iran found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.4% among elementary and middle school children and a prevalence rate of 2.1% for high school students.

Israel

It is estimated that between 17 and 25% of Israeli people are affected by myopia.

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 817 Israeli Jewish and Arab college students in lsrael found a myopia, moderate myopia, and high myopia prevalence rate of 69.2%, 18.5%, and 5.9% (respectively) among Israeli Jewish students and a prevalence rate for the same subtypes of myopia of 60.3%, 12.2%, and 1.9% for Arab Israeli students.

A 2021 study done with 807 Israeli Jewish and Arab college students in Israel found a prevalence rate of myopia of 66.3% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 4.6%. Myopia was more common among women, high myopia was more common among men, and both myopia and high myopia were overall more common among Jewish students.

A 1991 study done with 312,149 people aged 17 to 19 found a bilateral myopia prevalence rate of 16.27% and a unilateral myopia prevalence rate of 1.69%.

A 2019 study done with the medical profiling data of a total of 104,689 people aged 16 to 19 that was taken between 1971 and 1994 found that myopia had a 1-fold increase in prevalence rate in the younger generation; from 20.4% among those born between the years of 1971 and 1982 to 26.2% among those born between the years of 1983 and 1994.

Another 2005 study done with data from 919,929 people also found an increased prevalence rate of myopia; between 1990 and 2002, the incidence rate for the condition increased from 20.3% in 1990 to 28.3% in 2002. In 1990 men, mild myopia had a prevalence rate of 11.6%, moderate myopia had a prevalence rate of 5.7%, and high myopia had a prevalence rate of 1.7%, while low myopia, moderate myopia, and high myopia affected 16.3%, 7.2%, and 2.5% of 2002 men. Prevalence rate also increased for women; 1990 women had a myopia prevalence rate of 13.5% (mild), 6.6% (moderate), and 1.9% (high) which increased to 20.7% (mild), 9.2% (moderate), and 2.4% (high).

A 1992 study done with a total of 1,400 Israeli Air Force personnel over a 10-year period found that, out of all personnel who were shown to have 20/25 vision in one eye during their initial screening, 23.4% of them went on to develop myopia, while only 7.4% of those who had 20/20 vision in both eyes went on to develop myopia.

A study was done in 2019 with 22,823 adolescent boys aged 17 to 18, all of these people were specifically selected from three educational backgrounds; those who attended secular schools, those who attended Orthodox Jewish schools, and those who attended Ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools, out of these three options, myopia was the most found in Ultra-Orthodox school students, with a prevalence rate of 82.2%, followed by Orthodox schools with 50.3%, and finally with secular schools, with a prevalence rate of 29.7%. The authors of the study believed that a myopia incidence rate that high among Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox schoolstudents was partly caused by the intensive amounts of indoor reading enforced by the schools on the children as part of their culture.

Another study that showed the high incidence of myopia among Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Jewish citizens was done in 2021; out of 161 families in the study, 92% had at least one parent who was affected by myopia, and at least 44% of children in the families were shown to have myopia.

A 2022 study done with 1,359,153 people found a myopia prevalence rate of approximately 25% or less and a high myopia prevalence rate of 1% or less.

Jordan

Epidemiological studies

A 2005 study done with 1,093 Jordanian adults from the ages of 17 to 40 found a myopia prevalence rate of 53.71%.

A 2006 study done with 1,777 schoolchildren ages 12 to 17 from 8 different secondary schools in Amman, Jordan found a myopia prevalence rate of 17.6%.

Lebanon

Epidemiological studies

A 2010 study done with 212 adults of Armenian descent living in Lebanon found a prevalence rate of myopia of around 34%.

A small-scale study done in 2012 with 92 Lebanese medical students found a myopia prevalence rate of 47.8%.

Morocco

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2009 with 545 Moroccan children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6.1%.

Oman

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with data collected between the years of 1999 and 2010 from a total of 1,391,740 children from the fourth (397,430), seventh (533,003), and tenth (461,307) grades found a myopia prevalence rate of 2.44% among fourth grade students, 4.41% among seventh grade students, and 7.36% among tenth grade students. High myopia was the most prevalent among 10th grade students in 2010.

A study done in 2004 with 416,157 Omani students found a myopia prevalence rate of 4.1%.

A 1999 study done with data collected between the years of 1992 and 1994 from 6,292 Omani 1st to 6th grade schoolchildren found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0.56% among 6-year-old children and 5.16% among 12-year-old children. High myopia was found at an average rate of around 0.13% in 12-year-old girls, with the highest prevalence rate being among children in Nizwa, Oman, in which it was found at a prevalence rate of 2.82% (also in 12-year-old girls).

Myopia was found to be the most common refractive error among children with refractive errors in a 2016 Omani study, with the condition making up 94% of the study's RE cases.

Saudi Arabia

Epidemiological studies

Among a sample of 308 secondary and preparatory school students from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with refractive errors, myopia was found at a prevalence rate of 82.2%.

A 2018 study done with 1,007 teenagers from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate for refractive error of 55.5%; of the refractive errors reported in the study, myopia was the most common, making up half (53.3%) of all cases.

A 2020 study done with 660 adults from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 48.7%.

A study done in 2018 with 1,215 patients from Ohud Hospital in Medina, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate of myopia diagnoses of 3.54%. Among the people diagnosed as myopes, low (mild) myopia was the most common form to be detected. A higher male-to-female ratio of myopia was also found.

Another 2018 study done with 395 students from Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.2%.

A 2014 study done with 5,176 schoolchildren from 21 different primary schools in Al-Qassim Province, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 5.8%. Myopia was more common among girls than boys.

A 2017 study done with 1,893 schoolchildren from 8 kindergartens and 8 primary schools in Medina, Saudi Arabia found a myopia prevalence rate of 0.7%.

A 2022 study done with 3,678 schoolchildren from primary and secondary schools in Taif, Saudi Arabia found a prevalence rate of low myopia of 35%, a moderate myopia rate of 4.6%, and a high myopia rate of 0.9%. The condition was more common among boys than in girls in this study sample.

A myopia prevalence rate of 33.8% was found among 447 medical students at Jazan University, in Jazan, Saudi Arabia. Women made more than half of myopia cases.

Syria

Epidemiological studies

None of these studies were performed in the country of Syria itself, but rather, they were performed with Syrian refugees living in other countries.

A 2019 study done with 274 Syrian children in Toronto, Canada found a prevalence rate of myopia of 19.7%.

A 2021 study done with 91 Syrian children living in the United States found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.1%.

Tunisia

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2016 with 6,192 primary schoolchildren ages 6 to 14 from rural and urban areas in Tunisia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.71%.

A 2002 study done with 708 children from 4 socioeconomically poor cities of Tunisia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 9.1%.

Palestine

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 764 preschool-attending children from urban areas of the Palestine found a prevalence rate of myopia of only 0.35%.

Yemen

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2021 with data collected from visual acuity tests performed on 1,500 patients between 2012 and 2015 in an ophthalmology clinic in Sanaa, Yemen found a prevalence rate of myopia of 33.8%. A higher male-to-female-ratio of myopia prevalence was noted.

Oceania

This section includes countries from various regions in Oceania, including Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Vanuatu.

Australia

Epidemiological studies

A 1999 study done with 3,271 and 1,473 urban and rural (respectively) Australian residents found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17%. The condition was more common among those aged 40 to 49 (24%) in the study, followed by people aged 80 and up (17%), and people aged 70 to 79 (12%), it was also most common among southeast Asia-born Australians, people with higher education levels, and higher nuclear opacity.

A 2021 study done with data collected from 4 different Australian studies, half of the studies were done in the 1990s and the other half were done in the 2010s. The studies in question were the Busselton Healthy Aging Study (1990s), Gen1 of the Raine Study (1990s), the Blue Mountains Eye Study (2010s), and the Melbourne Visual Impairment Project (2010s), the data included in this particular study included the ocular data of a total of 8,420 Australians, to be more specific; 2,987 from the BHAS, 756 from the G1RS, 2,217 from the BMES, 1,760 from the urban form of the MVIP, and 700 from the regional form of the MVIP. The final prevalence rates of myopia were found at 19.4% for the BHAS, 29.2% for the G1RS, 23.9% for the BMES, 13.8% for the regional MVIP, and 16.4% for the urban MVIP.

A 2020 study done with data collected in 2014, 2016, and 2018, from 4,365 Australian children from the ages of 6 to 15 who had attended a care center, the prevalence rate of myopia was found to be 3.5% in 2014, 4.4% in 2016, and 4.3% in 2018.

A 2003 study done with data collected from a school excursion at Vision Education Centre at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of New South Wales, the data came from 2,535 schoolchildren, almost half of which were either first-generation Australians or were born outside the country before their residence in it, myopia was found at a rate of 1.0% among four-year-olds and 8.3% among twelve-year-olds.

A study done in 2010 with 1,884 Aboriginal Australian people from a remote indigenous area in central Australia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11.1%.

A 2013 study done with 2,760 children ages 12 and 17, respectively, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 14.4% and 29.6% among 12-year-old and 17-year-old children and teens, respectively. Children of East Asian descent of all ages and older children of European descent were more likely to suffer from myopia.

A 2011 study done with 354 2nd generation Australian immigrant schoolchildren attending a private school in Melbourne, Australia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 14.7%. All children who participated in the study were bilingual and had strong connections to their parents' homeland's culture, the majority of the children (96.3%) were of some sort of Middle Eastern background, while a minority (3.7%) had an exclusively Egyptian background.

Norfolk Island

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2011 with 677 people aged 15 and older in Norfolk Island found a prevalence rate of myopia of 10.1%.

Papua New Guinea

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2022 with 1,184 patients from an eye clinic in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea found an incidence rate of myopia of 330 out of the 1,184 patients.

Fiji

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2011 with 8,201 schoolchildren in Fiji found a prevalence rate of overall refractive errors (including myopia) of 2.0%.

Vanuatu

Epidemiological studies

A 1985 study done with 977 schoolchildren from Vanuatu found a prevalence rate of 1.3%.

A 1988 study done with 788 ethnic Melanesian schoolchildren in Vanuatu found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.9%.

Europe

This section covers multiple countries from various regions of Europe, including Russia, Germany, England, Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, Greece, Portugal, Sweden, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, Norway, Ireland, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Lithuania.

A meta-analysis done in 2015 with 15 studies covering 61,946 people across Europe (most of which were of direct European/Caucasian White descent) found a prevalence rate of myopia of 30.6% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.7%.

Russia

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 721 people living in Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia found a prevalence rate for -0.50 D myopia of 16.1%, a prevalence rate of 13.7% for myopia of −1.00 D, and a prevalence rate of 1.1% for myopia of −5.00 D or worse.

A study done in 2020 with 1,571 schoolchildren living in Ural, Russia narrowed down the number of children with mild, moderate, and high myopia to 272, 583, and 31, totaling an overall number of 886 study participants with myopia.

A study done with medical data from people living in Arkhangelsk, Russia found that out of the previously mentioned study participants, the number of females (all of which were between the ages of 0 and 17 years old) diagnosed with mild, moderate, and high myopia between the years of 2009 and 2019 was 4,225, 1,422, and 377, respectively, leaving a total of 6,024 female cases, and the number of males (of the same age range as the females) diagnosed with the same types of myopia previously mentioned were 3,122, 871, and 258, respectively, leaving a total of 4,251 male cases.

Germany

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2020 with medical data from 17,640 people collected from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11.6% between 2003 and 2006 among people aged 0 to 17 years old and a prevalence rate of 11.4% between 2014 and 2017 among people of the same age group.

Another study done in 2008 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0%, 5.5%, 21.0%, and 41.3% among children and people aged 2–6 years old, 7–11 years old, 12–17 years old, and 18–35 years old, respectively.

England (United Kingdom)

Epidemiological studies

A 2013 study done with 6,097 people collected from a cohort of English twins (mostly Caucasian and female) found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 28%.

A 2015 study done with 107,452 people aged 40–69 years old gathered from the UK Biobank found a prevalence rate of myopia of 27% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 4%.

A 2010 study done with 1,179 multi-ethnic English children separated into South Asian, Black African Caribbean, and European White ethnic categories found a prevalence rate of myopia of 25.2%, 10.0%, and 3.4% for children in the previously mentioned ethnic groups, respectively.

Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

Epidemiological studies

A 2012 study done with a total of 1,053 children from Northern Ireland comprising 392 children ages 6–7 and 661 children ages 12–13 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2% and 15%, respectively.

Another study done in 2016 with 1,068 children and people ages 6–7, 12–13, and 18-20 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.9%, 14.6%, and 18.6%, respectively.

France

Epidemiological studies

A 2015 study done with 100,429 French people gathered from various eye clinics across France found a prevalence rate of mild myopia of 25.1%, a prevalence rate of moderate myopia of 10.6%, a prevalence rate of high myopia of 3.4%, and a prevalence rate of very high myopia of 0.5%.

A 2020 study done with 264 children from Montpellier, France found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 32.6%.

Italy

Epidemiological studies

A post-COVID study done in 2022 with 803 Italian children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 24.10% among children ages 60–90 months old (5 to 8 years old) and a prevalence rate of 63.86% among children ages 97–144 months old (8 to 12 years old).

Myopia was found at a prevalence of 49.8% during the end stages of a 2006 study done with 207 Italian people whose job was working with video terminals.

Spain

Epidemiological studies

A 2000 study done with 7,621 Spanish people ages 3 to 93 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 30.1% among people in the age group of 30–35.

A 2009 study done with 417 adults from Segovia, Spain from the ages of 40 to 79 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 25.4%.

A study done between 2016 and 2017 with 6,152 children ages 5 to 7 found that the prevalence rate of myopia and high myopia increased between 2016 and 2017: from 17% and 1.7% for myopia and high myopia, respectively, in 2016, to a prevalence rate of myopia and high myopia of 20% and 3.6%, respectively, in 2017.

A 2020 study done with the medical records of 7,497 children in Spain found a prevalence rate for myopia of 18%. Age-adjusted prevalence was 21.21% for 7-year-old children, 17.6% for 6-year-old children, and 13.9% for 5-year-old children.

A 2021 study done with the (2020) medical records of 1,601 children across all 32 autonomous communities in Spain found a prevalence rate of myopia of 20.1%. The condition was more prevalent among boys, with a prevalence rate of 21.2%, than girls, with a prevalence rate of 17.6%.

Poland

Epidemiological studies

A 2007 study done with 4,422 Polish schoolchildren between the ages of 6 and 18 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 13.3%.

A 2009 study done with 2,206 rural and urban Caucasian schoolchildren in or near Szczecin, Poland found a prevalence rate of myopia of 7.5% among rural children and 13.9% among urban children.

A 2019 study done with 4,875 elementary and high school students between the ages of 6 and 16 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 5.71% and 8.30% for boys and girls (respectively) aged 9–13, and a prevalence rate of 5.96% and 10.37% for boys and girls (respectively) aged 13 to 16.

Romania

Epidemiological studies

A 2003 study done with medical data from 646 children in Louis Turcanu Hospital, in Timișoara, Timiș County found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.9%.

A 2002 study done with Romanian children ages 7 to 11 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.4%.

A 2001 study done with 890 children (ranging from 2 to 18 years old) and 190 adults (ranging from 19 to 77 years old and leaving a total of 880 overall participants) found a prevalence rate of myopia of 27% for the children and 16% for the adults.

Although all of the studies listed have shown a relatively low prevalence of myopia, a 2016 study done with data of 576 students of the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy collected from an online survey found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 73.8% among the students, with the lowest prevalence rate being found among fifth-year university students (68.6%) and the highest being found among sixth-year students (77.6%).

the Netherlands

Epidemiological studies

A 2021 study done with 2,643 children from the Netherlands found a prevalence rate of myopia of 2.2% among 6 year olds and a prevalence rate of myopia of 12.2% among 9 year olds.

A 2020 study done with 5,074 children born in Rotterdam, Netherlands between the years of 2002 and 2006 found that, for children of the ages of 9 years old, the prevalence rate for myopia was 11.5%.

Greece

Epidemiological studies

A 2000 study done with an unspecified number of students in Northern Greece found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 36.8%. A prevalence rate of 46.0% and 29.7% was found among women and men, respectively.

A 2009 study was done with 898 students from the ages of 10 and 15, the schools that were picked out were as follows: two primary and two secondary schools in Heraklion, Greece (with 588 out of the 898 participants attending said schools), and one primary and one secondary school in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria. In the Greek city (Heraklion), the condition was found at a rate of 28.9% among primary school students and 46.9% among secondary school students.

Portugal

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 meta-analysis done with 9 Portuguese studies found an overall prevalence rate of refractive error of 31.9%.

Sweden

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with anonymized data collected from 2008 to 2017 from 297 Swedish children ages 4 to 7 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0.24% in 2012 which increased to 0.68% in 2017.

A 2006 study done with 143 children ages 4 to 15 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6%.

A 2000 study done with 1,045 children aged 12 to 13 years old in Gothenburg, Sweden found a prevalence rate of myopia of 49.7%, and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.5%.

A 2021 study done with 128 schoolchildren ages 8 to 16 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 10.0%.

Hungary

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 68,227 people across the country of Hungary found a prevalence rate of myopia of 43.45% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 0.21%.

Austria

Epidemiological studies

A 2020 study done with 1,507,063 young Austrian men from military conscriptions between the years of 1983 and 2017 found that the prevalence rate of myopia had increased, from 13.8% during 1983 to 24.4% during 2017. The prevalence rate of the condition among those who had a lower educational background increased from 11.4% in 1983 to 21.7% in 2017, which was lower compared to the prevalence rate for those who had a higher education background, which increased from 24.5% in 1983 to 29.6% in 2017.

Bulgaria

Epidemiological studies

A 2022 study done with 1,401 children from three locations in Bulgaria found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.85%. Age-specific prevalence rates were 14.2% for children ages 6 to 10 years old, 19.9% for children ages 11 to 15 years old. Region-specific prevalence rates were 31.4% for urban Bulgarian children, 19.9% for town Bulgarian children, and 8.4% for rural Bulgarian children.

Denmark

Epidemiological studies

A 2008 study done with 151 first-year Caucasian medical students attending the University of Copenhagen found a prevalence rate of myopia of 37% among those who participated in physical activities and a prevalence rate of 43% among those who didn't.

A 2007 study done with medical records of 4,681 Danish men taken between September and December 2004 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 12.8% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 0.3%.

A 2018 study done with 307 Danish children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.9%.

Finland

Epidemiological studies

A 1983 study done with children ages 7 to 15 years old in Kuopio, Finland found a prevalence rate of myopia of 14% among the 9,635 children said to have been included in the study.

A 2022 study done with 4,961 Finnish children from central Finland ages 7, 11, and 15 years old, attending the first, fifth, and eighth grades, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3%, 15%, and 27%, respectively.

Slovakia

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 1,663 Slovak people ages 16 to 96 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6.61%.

Norway

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with 393 Caucasian Norwegian teenagers ages 16 to 19 found a prevalence rate of myopia of 13%. All of these teenagers were from a region of Norway located in 60°N.

A study done in 2002 with 3,137 people had two specific groups of people which were divided by their ages; the first, called "the young adult group", consisted of people ages 20 to 25, and the second, called "the middle-aged group", consisted of people ages 40 to 45. The total prevalence rate of myopia was 35.0% and 30.3% for people in the young adult group and the middle-aged group, respectively.

Like in other countries, the condition appears to be more common among university students; a 1992 study done with 133 medical students in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found a prevalence rate of myopia of 50.3%.

Ireland

Epidemiological studies

A study done in 2019 with 1,626 Irish children belonging to the age groups of 6-7 (728) and 12–13 years old (898) found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.3% among the children aged 6–7 and a prevalence rate of 19.9% among the children aged 12–13.

Croatia

Epidemiological studies

A 2006 study done with the military fitness data of 437 Croatian teenage boys found a prevalence rate of myopia of just over 20% among those of them who lived in urban, rural, or islandic areas of the country.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with 997 schoolchildren ages 7 to 16 from five separate primary schools in Brčko District, Bosnia and Herzegovina, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 17.3% with retinoscopy and 20.4% with autorefraction.

Out of 7,415 schoolchildren ages 4 to 15 from eight daycare centers and every elementary school in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina – who participated in a 2021 study, 92 were found to have been affected with myopia.

Lithuania

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 11,406 Lithuanian people ages 0–18 in a hospital in the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, located in Kaunas, Lithuania between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2012, found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 36.5%. The prevalence rate could further be divided into 1.5%, 2.5%, 7.6%, 32.4%, and 44.7% among those ages 0 to 1 years old, 1 to 4 years old, 5 to 9 years old, 10 to 13 years old, and 14 to 18 years old, respectively.

the Americas

This section contains a number of countries in the Americas, including the United States of America, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Paraguay.

A meta-analysis done in 2021 with 15 studies in North and South America (The U.S., Brazil, and Paraguay, to be precise) covering 45,349 found varying prevalence rates across populations, ranging from 1.2% to 48%. Rural and urban areas had a prevalence rate of 1.4% and 14.3%, respectively. The average prevalence rate of myopia for White, Black, and people of other ethnic backgrounds were 15.4%, 20.6%, and 2.9%, respectively.

United States of America

Overall, myopia affects a total of 25% of the population of the United States of America.

Epidemiological studies

A 1983 study done with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys taken in 1971 and 1972 covering people ages 12 to 54 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 25%.

A 2020 study done with 767 Air Force Basic Military trainees enlisting for the United States Airforce in San Antonio, Texas found a prevalence rate of myopia of 45% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2%.

A 2018 study done with 60,789 children in Southern California found a prevalence rate of myopia of 41.9%. The condition was present in 14.8% of children ages 5–7 and in 59.0% of people ages 17–19 years old, and it was most common among those of Asian or Pacific Islander ancestry.

A 2006 study done with 6,357 people of Latino ancestry ages 40 and up, living in La Puente, California, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 16.8% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 2.4%.

A 2011 study done with 124 people aged 40 and up living in the Tau Islands, in the American Samoa, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.2% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 0.8%. A high male-to-female ratio of myopia was reported.

A 2010 study done with 675 Polish-American people in Chicago, Illinois, United States found a prevalence rate of myopia of 35.1%.

The condition is particularly common among certain American ethnic groups, one such example are the Alaskan Siberian Yupik peoples, who, in a 1985 study, showed a prevalence rate of myopia of 68%. The Yupik subjects used in this study were young members of the tribe gathered from 10 villages in southwestern Alaska.

Mexico

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Epidemiological studies

A 2003 study done with Mexican children ages 12 to 13 in Monterrey, Mexico found a prevalence rate of myopia of 44% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 1.4%.

A 2019 study done with 2,647 children ages 5 to 14 from an urban area in Quintana Roo, Mexico found a prevalence rate of myopia of 4.6%.

A 2021 study done with data from 2,195 people who attended a public eye clinic in Aguascalientes, Mexico found a prevalence rate of myopia of 7.0% among those who were under the age of 18 and a prevalence rate of 8.6% among those who were over the age of 18. To be more specific, myopia was present in 6.5% of children ages 1–5, 5.5% of children ages 6–10, 3.1% of children ages 11–14, and in 22.5% of children ages 15–17.

A 2016 study done with 317 children ages 6 to 12 years old living in a rural area in State of Mexico, Mexico, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 9.7%.

A A 2021 study done with 449 Mexican adults gathered from a 2018 vision campaign in Mexico City, Mexico found a prevalence rate of mild myopia of 39.43% and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 5.79%, leaving a total prevalence of myopia of 45.21%.

The total prevalence of myopia in Mexico was found to be 24.78% in a 2022 meta-analysis studying 21 studies covering 688,893 people in the country.

Canada

Epidemiological studies

A 2018 study done with 166 suburban Canadian children found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 17.6%. Age-specific prevalence was 6.0% in children ages 6–8 and 28.9% in children ages 11–13.

A 2007 study done with the optometric records of 1,468 Chinese-Canadian children who attended an eye clinic in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada found a prevalence rate of myopia of 22.4% among those aged 6 and a prevalence rate of 64.1% among those aged 12.

A 1999 study done in Ontario, Canada with 10,616 six-year-old children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 6% (defined in the study as a refractive power of -0.25 D).

A 2022 study done in Northern Canada with 6,341 people belonging to the Inuit tribe in Nunavik found a prevalence rate of myopia of 46.5%.

Costa Rica

Epidemiological studies

A study done with the ophthalmological data of a total of 17,670 Costa Rican children ages 7 to 14 years old taken in the 'Dr. Carlos Sáenz Herrera Children's Hospital' between the years of 2019, 2020 and 2021 found an incidence rate of myopia of 1.94 out of 100, 1.36 out of 100, and 2.66 out of 100, respectively. The latter finding correlated with the study's hypothesis of an increase in myopia incidence rate during the lockdowns thar occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brazil

Epidemiological studies

A 2013 study done with 1,590 children ages 10 to 15 years old from Gurupi, Brazil found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.14%.

A 2020 study done with 421 children in Aracati, Brazil found a prevalence rate of myopia of 20.4% and a prevalence rate of high myopia between 0.48% and 1.4%.

A 2015 study done with 7,654 people from nine municipalities in São Paulo, Brazil found a prevalence rate of myopia of 25.3%.

A 2005 study done with 1,024 schoolchildren from Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil found a prevalence rate of myopia of 13.3%. The condition was more common among those who were between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.

A 2005 study done with 486 people — 289 indigenous Brazilians and 89 non-indigenous Brazilians — from the upper parts of Rio Negro, Brazil found an overall prevalence rate of myopia of 2.7%.

A 2009 study done with 2,454 people from Botucatu, Brazil found a prevalence rate of myopia of 29.7% among those aged 30 to 39 years old and a prevalence rate of 3.8% among those aged 10 and under.

Colombia

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 1,228 Colombian people ages 8 to 17 years old in Bucaramanga, Colombia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 11.2%, and a prevalence rate of high myopia of 0.2%.

A 2018 study done with 3,608 people ages 8 to 17 and 35 to 55 years old from 10 different districts across Colombia found a prevalence rate of myopia of 12.9%. The condition was present in 9.2% of those who lived in rural areas and in 15.7% of those who lived in urban areas.

Argentina

Epidemiological studies

A 2008 study done with 1,518 office-workers in Buenos Aires, Argentina, ages 25 to 65 years old, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 29.2%.

Venezuela

Epidemiological studies

A 2011 study done with 104 children ages 5 to 15 living in the Rafael Urdaneta Municipality, in Miranda, Venezuela found a prevalence rate of myopia of 61.5%. The condition was most common among Mestizos (people with mixed Indigenous and European ancestry), children aged 10 to 15 years old, and in women.

Chile

Epidemiological studies

A 2000 study done with 5,303 children ages 5 to 15 years old living in La Florida, Chile found a prevalence rate of myopia of 3.4% among 5-year-old children and a prevalence rate of 19.4% and 14.7% among 15-year-old males and females, respectively.

Ecuador

Epidemiological studies

A 2004 study done with 507 indigenous Ecuadorian people belonging to the Naporuna tribe and 776 Andean White mestizos, both of which were living in the Ecuadorian Amazon at the time of the study, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 4.7% among the Indigenous Naporuna subjects and 5.5% among the white subjects.

Peru

Epidemiological studies

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Paraguay

Epidemiological studies

A 2017 study done with 1,466 people ages 3 to 22 years old, from a rural community in Paraguay, found a prevalence rate of myopia of 0.5%.

A 2013 study done with a total of 476 children from 3 schools mainly educating Mennonite (190), Indigenous (118), and mixed race (168) children found a prevalence rate of myopia of 1.2% among the Mennonite children and a prevalence rate of 1.4% among the mixed race children. Each of these two groups only had two cases of the condition. No cases were apparently reported among the Indigenous Paraguayan children.

the Caribbean

This section contains various countries from the Caribbean, including Haiti, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados.

Haiti

Epidemiological studies

A 2012 study done with 3,702 Haitian people who visited a hospital in rural Lascahobas, Haiti found a prevalence rate of myopia of 22.21%.

A 2017 study carried out in Gonâve Island, Haiti to determine the epidemiology of visual impairments in the island – used eye exams taken of 1,724 people native to said Haitian island by a medical team deployed by a non-governmental organization known as IRIS Mundial and found a prevalence rate of high myopia of 1%.

Puerto Rico

Epidemiological studies

A 2014 study done with 784 Puerto Ricans aged 40 and up found a prevalence rate of myopia of 14.7%.

A 1990 study done with 1,109 people ages 5 to 81 years old living in Patillas, Puerto Rico found a prevalence rate of myopia of 10.2%. The highest prevalence rate was reported among those in the 21–30 year old age range, with a prevalence rate of 16.8%.

Trinidad and Tobago

Epidemiological studies

A 2016 study done with 2,334 Trinidian people aged 40 and up found a prevalence rate of myopia of 19.2%. The condition was most commonly found among those with African ancestry, high educational levels, and older age.

Barbados

Epidemiological studies

A 1999 study done with 4,709 people from Barbados ages 40 to 84 years old found a prevalence rate of myopia of 21.9%. Sex-specific prevalence rates were 25.0% among men and 19.5% among women. Age-specific prevalence rates were 17% for those aged 40 to 49 and 11% for those aged 50 to 59.

Recent rise in myopia worldwide

The increase in the frequency of myopia (especially that among children) in recent years is associated with the increase in the time people spend indoors using electronic devices such as televisions, computers or mobile phones. Near activities (like looking at a phone) are correlated with a higher risk of developing myopia due to the fact that the performance of activities of such kind typically don't let the eyes focus correctly, this is because near tasks, like the name suggests, require a close distance in order to be done properly, which would forcibly make the image that the eyes are focusing on blurry, consequently leading to the lengthening of the eye's axial length. Said elongation is what leads to the most common type of myopia – axial myopia, which, like other types of myopia, results in nearsighted vision. The high amounts of time one spends looking at a near object also reduces the relative amount of blinking of the eyes, which evaporates the tear film of the eye and consequently causes dry eyes, which, in some cases, leads to blurry vision. The increase in indoor time also decreases the amount of time spent outdoors. Normal to high amounts of outdoor time protect against myopia by letting the eye focus on distant objects, which relaxes the eye and prevents any unnecessary, pathological axial lengthening. The exposure to bright, natural sunlight is also thought to be involved in this protective mechanism.

This same mechanism is what also lead to the increase of myopia during the government-mandated lockdowns that occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which partly or totally reduced the amount of time people spent outdoors, in countries like China (in which the lockdowns were enforced the most), significant increases in rates of myopia have been reported, when schools reopened, as much as 21.5%, 26.2%, and 37.7% of children ages 6, 7, and 8 years old, respectively, were shown to be affected with myopia when Chinese vision screening programs resumed as schools reopened, when previous pre-COVID rates of myopia were 5.7%, 16.2%, and 27.7% for each mentioned age group, respectively.

The effect of this phenomenon is particularly noticeable among children, since their eyes are still growing during their current life period and they (the eyes) continue to do so until early adulthood.

Out of every region in the world, this epidemic seems to be affecting countries in Southeast and East Asia the most.

In May 2016, a meta-analysis using 145 studies covering 2.1 million people across the world estimated myopia and high myopia to have affected around 1.4 billion and 163 million people worldwide (respectively) which would translate to roughly 22.9% and 2.7% of the world's population (respectively) in the year 2000, and it estimated the same conditions (myopia and high myopia) to affect 4.7 billion and 938 million people around the world (respectively), which would roughly translate to 49.8% and 9.8% of the world's population (respectively).

In 2009, a study was done with data from the United States' National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys done in the time periods of 1971-1972 and 1999–2004, said study found an increase in the prevalence rate of myopia in those years from 25.0% (1971–1972) to 46.1% (1999–2004). Ethnicity-specific rates were 13.0% and 26.3% for black and white people, respectively, in 1971–1972, which later increased to 33.5% and 43.0% in the same ethnic groups in 1999–2004. Severity-specific rates of myopia also increased, with a 17.5% (1999–2004) rate up from the previous 13.7% (1971–1972) rate for myopia of −2.0 D or less, a 22.4% (1999–2004) prevalence rate up from the previous 11.4% rate (1971–1972) for myopia between −2.0 D and −7.9 D, and a 1.6% prevalence rate (1999–2004) up from the previous 0.2% rate for myopia higher than −7.9 D.

Further reading

Hashemi, H.; Fotouhi, A.; Yekta, A.; Pakzad, R.; Ostadimoghaddam, H.; Khabazkhoob, M. (2018). "Global and regional estimates of prevalence of refractive errors: Systematic review and meta-analysis". Journal of Current Ophthalmology. 30 (1): 3–22. doi:10.1016/j.joco.2017.08.009. PMC 5859285. PMID 29564404.

Nearsighted | Kodak Lens Canada

Wang, Wenjing; Peng, Shuzhen; Zhang, Faxue; Zhu, Boya; Zhang, Longjiang; Tan, Xiaodong (2022). "Progression of Vision in Chinese School-Aged Children Before and After COVID-19". International Journal of Public Health. 67. doi:10.3389/ijph.2022.1605028. PMC 9402781 . PMID 36032274 .

Rey-Rodríguez, Diana V.; Álvarez-Peregrina, Cristina; Moreno-Montoya, José (2017). "Prevalencia y factores asociados a miopía en jóvenes". Revista Mexicana de Oftalmología. 91 (5): 223–228. doi:10.1016/j.mexoft.2016.06.007.

Czepita, D.; Mojsa, A.; Ustianowska, M.; Czepita, M.; Lachowicz, E. (2007). "Role of gender in the occurrence of refractive errors". Annales Academiae Medicae Stetinensis. 53 (2): 5–7. PMID 18557370.

Murthy, G. V.; Gupta, S. K.; Ellwein, L. B.; Muñoz, S. R.; Pokharel, G. P.; Sanga, L.; Bachani, D. (2002). "Refractive error in children in an urban population in New Delhi". Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 43 (3): 623–631. PMID 11867576.

Dandona, R.; Dandona, L.; Srinivas, M.; Sahare, P.; Narsaiah, S.; Muñoz, S. R.; Pokharel, G. P.; Ellwein, L. B. (2002). "Refractive error in children in a rural population in India". Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 43 (3): 615–622. PMID 11867575.

Wadhwani, M.; Vashist, P.; Singh, S. S.; Gupta, V.; Gupta, N.; Saxena, R. (2022). "Myopia prevalence in a population-based childhood visual impairment study in North India – CHVI-2". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 70 (3): 939–943. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_974_21. PMC 9114607 . PMID 35225546 .

Rezvan, F.; Khabazkhoob, M.; Fotouhi, A.; Hashemi, H.; Ostadimoghaddam, H.; Heravian, J.; Azizi, E.; Khorasani, A. A.; Yekta, A. A. (2012). "Prevalence of refractive errors among school children in Northeastern Iran". Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics. 32 (1): 25–30. doi:10.1111/j.1475-1313.2011.00879.x. PMID 22023649.

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-Myopia: A close look at efforts to turn back a growing problem | National Eye Institute

-What Is Myopia, And Why Does It Affect So Many Children? Screen Time Is A Growing Concern

-Why short-sightedness is on the rise

-Lifestyle linked to huge increase in short-sightedness

-Myopia: A Global Epidemic

-Myopia: A Silent and Growing Epidemic

Morgan, I. G.; French, A. N.; Ashby, R. S.; Guo, X.; Ding, X.; He, M.; Rose, K. A. (2018). "The epidemics of myopia: Aetiology and prevention". Progress in Retinal and Eye Research. 62: 134–149. doi:10.1016/j.preteyeres.2017.09.004. hdl:1885/139488. PMID 28951126.

Flanagan, J.; Fricke, T.; Morjaria, P.; Yasmin, S. (2019). "Myopia: A growing epidemic". Community Eye Health. 32 (105): 9. PMC 6688420 . PMID 31409944.

Landreneau, J. R.; Hesemann, N. P.; Cardonell, M. A. (2021). "Review on the Myopia Pandemic: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Prevention". Missouri Medicine. 118 (2): 156–163. PMC 8029638 . PMID 33840860 .

Morgan, I. G.; Jan, C. L. (2022). "China Turns to School Reform to Control the Myopia Epidemic: A Narrative Review". Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology (Philadelphia, Pa.). 11 (1): 27–35. doi:10.1097/APO.0000000000000489. PMID 35044336 .

Park, D. J.; Congdon, N. G. (2004). "Evidence for an "epidemic" of myopia". Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore. 33 (1): 21–26. PMID 15008557.

Mutti, D. O.; Bullimore, M. A. (1999). "Myopia: An epidemic of possibilities?". Optometry and Vision Science. 76 (5): 257–258. doi:10.1097/00006324-199905000-00001. PMID 10375238.

Morgan, I. G.; He, M.; Rose, K. A. (2017). "EPIDEMIC OF PATHOLOGIC MYOPIA: What Can Laboratory Studies and Epidemiology Tell Us?". Retina (Philadelphia, Pa.). 37 (5): 989–997. doi:10.1097/IAE.0000000000001272. PMID 27617538.

Rozema, J. J.; Boulet, C.; Cohen, Y.; Stell, W. K.; Iribarren, L.; van Rens GHMB; Iribarren, R. (2021). "Reappraisal of the historical myopia epidemic in native Arctic communities". Ophthalmic & Physiological Optics. 41 (6): 1332–1345. doi:10.1111/opo.12879. PMID 34533229 .

Muralidharan, A. R.; Lança, C.; Biswas, S.; Barathi, V. A.; Wan Yu Shermaine, L.; Seang-Mei, S.; Milea, D.; Najjar, R. P. (2021). "Light and myopia: From epidemiological studies to neurobiological mechanisms". Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology. 13. doi:10.1177/25158414211059246. PMC 8721425 . PMID 34988370 .

Hussaindeen, J. R.; Gopalakrishnan, A.; Sivaraman, V.; Swaminathan, M. (2020). "Managing the myopia epidemic and digital eye strain post COVID-19 pandemic – What eye care practitioners need to know and implement?". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 68 (8): 1710–1712. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_2147_20. PMC 7640876 . PMID 32709834 .

Yang, Z.; Wang, X.; Zhang, S.; Ye, H.; Chen, Y.; Xia, Y. (2022). "Pediatric Myopia Progression During the COVID-19 Pandemic Home Quarantine and the Risk Factors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". Frontiers in Public Health. 10: 835449. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.835449. PMC 9355634 . PMID 35937221 .

Petty, A. D.; Wilson, G. (2018). "Reducing the impact of the impending myopia epidemic in New Zealand". The New Zealand Medical Journal. 131 (1487): 80–85. PMID 30543614.

Mameesh, M.; Ganesh, A.; Al Zuhaibi, S. (2017). "Facing the epidemic of myopia: Exploring the possibilities". Oman Journal of Ophthalmology. 10 (2): 61–62. doi:10.4103/ojo.OJO_95_2017 (inactive 2023-01-06). PMC 5516464. PMID 28757687.

Rosenfield, Mark (2022). "COVID‐19 and myopia". Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics. 42 (2): 255–257. doi:10.1111/opo.12944. PMID 35014078 .

-Pawar, Neelam; Maheshwari, Devendra; Meenakshi, R. (2022). "COVID-19 myopia, myopia of pandemic: Are we heading towards unpredictable high myopic era?". Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 70 (8): 3158–3160. doi:10.4103/ijo.IJO_2959_21. PMC 9672706 . PMID 35919004 .

-Kuehn, Bridget M. (2021). "Increase in Myopia Reported Among Children During COVID-19 Lockdown". JAMA. 326 (11): 999. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.14475. PMID 34546294 .

-Myopia progression during the COVID-19 pandemic observed in younger schoolchildren

-A new study confirms the correlation between Covid-19 and myopia

-COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns led to faster myopic shifts in children with new myopia

-How Has COVID-19 Changed the Epidemiology of Myopia?

References

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