High Blood Pressure Rates by Country

Roughly one in three adults worldwide (33%) has high blood pressure, but the numbers swing sharply from place to place. At the low end, only 20.7% of adults in Peru, 21.9 % in Switzerland, and 22.1% in Canada live with hypertension. At the other extreme, rates top 50% in Paraguay (56.4%) and Tuvalu (50.4%), with several Eastern European nations close behind at just under half the adult population.

Clear patterns emerge when the data are lined up from lowest to highest. Many Western European and East Asian countries cluster below the global average, while parts of Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Pacific Islands sit well above it. The accompanying infographic presents the full list in order, offering a quick snapshot of where hypertension is least common, and where it is most urgent to tackle.