More than a billion people across the world are living with mental health conditions, with anxiety and depression being the most common, data released by the World Health Organization on Tuesday showed.

Mental health conditions affected persons of all ages, income levels and regions, revealed two reports released by the WHO.

The reports highlight that women are disproportionately impacted, with 581.5 million women facing mental health disorders as compared to 513.9 million men.

“Women who have experienced intimate partner violence or sexual violence are particularly vulnerable to developing a mental health condition,” said the World Mental Health Today report, which analyses the state of mental wellbeing globally.

The other report, Mental Health Atlas 2024, analyses governments’ mental health policies.

The World Mental Health Today report also noted that depression and anxiety are more common among women, while men are more likely to be diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders and conduct disorders.

The World Mental Health Today report estimates that 7.2 lakh persons had died by suicide 2021, making it a major cause of death among young people.

In 2021, suicide accounted for more than one in every hundred deaths. The report also highlighted that suicide rates are more than twice as high in men as in women.

For every death by suicide, more than 20 attempts are made, it added.

The report also said that at the current rate, progress is falling far short of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing suicide rates by one-third by 2030. Projections indicate that only a 12% reduction will be achieved by then.

Despite growing awareness and increased policy activity in some regions, the WHO warned that countries are far off track to meet global mental health targets and must urgently step up investment, services and legal reform.

The World Health Organization highlighted that mental health conditions carry a massive economic burden, with anxiety and depression alone costing the global economy $1 trillion annually.

Despite this, average government spending on mental health remains low at just 2.1% of total health budgets. The number has remained unchanged since 2017.

High-income countries spend as much as $65.8 per person on mental health services, while low-income countries spend as little as $0.04.

The global health body highlighted that only 45% of the surveyed countries had mental health laws fully aligned with international human rights standards.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation as “one of the most pressing public health challenges”.

“Investing in mental health means investing in people, communities, and economies – an investment no country can afford to neglect,” he said.

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