Visual Impairment
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people living in England are (a) blind and (b) partially sighted, broken down by age.
Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed
The specific data requested is not held centrally, however the Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People data collection provides national statistics on individuals in England with a Certificate of Vision Impairment (CVI) who are on local authority registers. A CVI formally certifies someone as sight impaired or as severely sight impaired. The latest figures are from 2022/23 and can be found at the following link:
As of 31 March 2023, there were 268,500 people registered as blind and partially sighted in England. The following table shows the number of people registered as blind/severely sight impaired, as of 31 March 2023, broken down by age:
0 to 4 | 5 to 17 | 18 to 49 | 50 to 64 | 65 to 74 | 75 and over |
420 | 3,730 | 18,530 | 19,725 | 15,100 | 75,810 |
In addition, the following table shows the number of people registered as partial sight/sight impaired persons, as of 31 March 2023, broken down by age:
0 to 4 | 5 to 17 | 18 to 49 | 50 to 64 | 65 to 74 | 75 and over |
430 | 5,920 | 17,650 | 16,920 | 14,115 | 80,150 |
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