Vision Loss Expert Group report almost a quarter of a billion people were either blind or visually impaired as of 2010.

Recent research from the Department of Health Statistics and Information Systems of the World Health Organisation (WHO), on behalf of the Vision Loss Expert Group, has indicated a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of blindness & moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI) over the past 20 years (1990-2010). However, despite the decrease, the blind population has remained stable while those defined as MSVI may have increased due to population growth and the relative increase in older adults. Approximately 223M people were either blind or suffering MSVI at the end of the study period (2010).