If you’re checking whether age explains developmental intellectual disability differences, the answer isn’t found in age alone—rates must be read within regions, where the gap remains the strongest signal.

You arrived looking for an age-by-age answer about developmental intellectual disability. The GBD 2023 estimates show that age changes the pattern, while region changes it even more.

Across the figures, prevalence in high-income countries stays near 0.5% across most listed age groups. Rates in Central Asia, Central Europe and Eastern Europe sit higher.

The key question is whether age alone explains the difference.

The answer comes later: age matters within each region, yet the regional gap remains the clearest feature. These estimates cover both sexes and describe idiopathic developmental intellectual disability.

Before the sections open, the figures this page stands on — each one carrying its own source.

What the GBD 2023 estimates measure by age

You have reached this page for a direct age comparison, so begin with the two measures shown in the estimates.

Prevalence counts people living with idiopathic developmental intellectual disability within an age group. The rate expresses that count per 100,000 people.

DALYs measure disease burden for the same condition and age group. They appear as a total number and as a rate per 100,000.

The figures cover both sexes. They also use broad age bands, such as 5-9, 10-14 and 15-19, followed by five-year adult groups.

Seven age bands provide the clearest path through the main comparison. Read each band as a population estimate, rather than as a statement about one person.

The GBD 2023 estimates from the Global Burden of Disease results source give the year, region, condition, age band and measure together. That detail matters.

A rate lets you compare age groups within a region. A total number also reflects the size of the population in that age band.

Why age alone does not give one worldwide answer

Your answer changes when the geographic setting changes, even when the age band stays the same.

For ages 5-9, prevalence reaches 1,372 per 100,000 in Central Asia. The same age band reaches 1,185 per 100,000 in Central Europe.

Eastern Europe records 1,240 per 100,000 for ages 5-9. Western Europe records 550 per 100,000 for that band.

High-income North America records 715 per 100,000, while high-income Asia Pacific records 62.6 per 100,000.

Those figures describe different regional estimates. They do not establish one global age curve.

Within Central Asia, the prevalence rate moves from 1,372 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 to 1,336 per 100,000 at ages 10-14.

Within Western Europe, the rate moves from 550 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 to 548 per 100,000 at ages 10-14.

The age change looks small in those two bands, while the regional difference remains large. That is the first answer to the question you brought here.

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What happens from childhood into young adulthood

You may be comparing a child, teenager or young adult with an older family member.

Across the high-income-country estimates, prevalence stays close to 0.6% from ages 5-9 through 35-39. The listed rates range from 553 to 569 per 100,000.

A different path emerges in high-income Asia Pacific.

Its rate rises from 62.6 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 to 174 per 100,000 at ages 30-34.

Central Asia stays near 1.3% across ages 5-9 through 35-39. Its rates range from 1,227 to 1,372 per 100,000.

Central Europe also stays close to 1.2% across those age bands. The rate reaches 1,190 per 100,000 at ages 30-34.

Eastern Europe records about 1.2% across ages 5-39, with rates ranging from 1,177 to 1,240 per 100,000.

Western Europe remains near 0.5% to 0.6% from childhood into young adulthood. Its highest listed rate in that span reaches 556 per 100,000.

These patterns answer the age question with a condition: the direction depends on the region being examined.

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How prevalence changes across the adult age bands

You may have expected adult age bands to show a steady fall after childhood.

The high-income-country figures stay close to 0.5% through ages 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59 and 60-64.

Western Europe shows a gradual decline after ages 35-39. The rate falls from 542 per 100,000 to 383 per 100,000 by ages 60-64.

Eastern Europe also declines across later adulthood. Its rate moves from 1,177 per 100,000 at ages 35-39 to 795 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

Central Asia follows the same broad direction after early adulthood.

Its rate moves from 1,227 per 100,000 at ages 35-39 to 915 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

Central Europe declines from 1,173 per 100,000 at ages 35-39 to 850 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

High-income North America declines from 665 per 100,000 at ages 35-39 to 433 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

High-income Asia Pacific rises through the middle adult bands, reaching 275 per 100,000 at ages 50-54, then reaches 270 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

The adult result therefore has two parts. Several regions decline later, while high-income Asia Pacific remains on a higher middle-age path than its childhood estimate.

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What the prevalence totals add to the age picture

You are looking for the meaning behind a rate, and the population count adds another part of the answer.

In Western Europe, about 128,000 people aged 5-9 were estimated to live with the condition in 2023. The number reaches about 156,000 at ages 30-34.

By ages 60-64, the Western Europe estimate falls to about 112,000. The count follows the region’s declining later-adult rate.

Eastern Europe records about 137,000 people at ages 5-9 and about 220,000 at ages 35-39. At ages 60-64, the estimate reaches about 118,000.

Central Asia records about 138,000 people at ages 5-9 and about 103,000 at ages 30-34. At ages 60-64, the estimate reaches about 40,000.

High-income Asia Pacific records about 4,600 people at ages 5-9. The estimate reaches about 40,000 at ages 50-54.

High-income North America records about 160,000 people at ages 5-9 and about 180,000 at ages 30-34.

The estimate reaches about 104,000 at ages 60-64.

A total can rise while a rate changes differently because population size differs across age bands. The two measures answer related questions.

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How disease burden changes by age

You may see the phrase disease burden beside prevalence and wonder whether it follows the same age pattern.

In high-income Asia Pacific, the DALY rate rises from 3.6 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 to 15.2 per 100,000 at ages 50-54.

The total burden there rises from about 262 at ages 5-9 to about 2,200 at ages 50-54. It then reaches about 1,800 at ages 60-64.

Central Asia shows a different scale.

Its DALY rate reaches 68.3 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 and falls to 43.4 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

The Central Asia total reaches about 6,900 at ages 5-9 and about 11,000 at ages 35-39. It then reaches about 2,100 at ages 60-64.

Western Europe records 28.8 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 and 20.2 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

Its total burden reaches about 6,700 at ages 5-9, about 8,100 at ages 40-44 and about 5,900 at ages 60-64.

The burden measure follows age patterns that can differ from prevalence. Your answer should name the measure before describing its change.

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How to read the highest and lowest age estimates

You may be tempted to treat the highest age figure as the age when the condition begins.

The supplied estimates do not establish that conclusion. They report values for selected age bands in 2023.

For prevalence, Central Asia has its highest listed rate at ages 5-9, reaching 1,372 per 100,000.

Its lowest listed rate occurs at ages 60-64, reaching 915 per 100,000.

Western Europe has its highest listed rate at ages 30-34, reaching 556 per 100,000. Its lowest listed rate occurs at ages 60-64, reaching 383 per 100,000.

High-income Asia Pacific has its highest listed rate at ages 50-54, reaching 275 per 100,000.

Its lowest listed rate occurs at ages 5-9, reaching 62.6 per 100,000.

High-income countries show a narrower range. The rate reaches 569 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 and 398 per 100,000 at ages 60-64.

These comparisons answer the reader’s age question without turning an estimate into a personal timeline. A population pattern cannot identify one person’s developmental history.

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What the age pattern means for your original question

You came for one clear result: age changes the estimate, yet age alone does not explain the full pattern.

Across Central Asia, Central Europe and Eastern Europe, prevalence remains higher than in Western Europe across the listed age bands.

High-income North America also stays above Western Europe in the listed prevalence rates. At ages 5-9, the rates are 715 per 100,000 and 550 per 100,000.

High-income Asia Pacific stays below Western Europe in childhood and young adulthood. Its middle-age rate later reaches 275 per 100,000.

Within regions, later adult prevalence often declines.

High-income Asia Pacific follows a different path, rising from 62.6 per 100,000 at ages 5-9 to 275 per 100,000 at ages 50-54.

DALYs add a second age story. Their totals and rates change across age groups, and those changes do not always mirror prevalence.

The most accurate reading is therefore specific: GBD 2023 reports different age patterns for idiopathic developmental intellectual disability across regions and measures.

That is what the research actually shows for the promise that brought you here. The figures describe populations, age bands and regions, with no single worldwide curve.

This is general information about the mind, not therapy or a diagnosis. If things feel hard, please consult a professional. In a crisis, reach a free, confidential crisis hotline right away; findahelpline.com lists one for your country.