In a room of ten people, one or two are likely neurodivergent — whether they know it or not.
Research estimates that around 15–20% of the population has a neurodivergent condition1, including ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and dyscalculia. That figure accounts for the significant overlap between conditions.
Many neurodivergent people carry more than one: ADHD and autism, dyslexia and ADHD, dyspraxia and dyscalculia, and so on — see more in our entry about co-occurring conditions. The main thing is, you cannot simply add up the individual prevalences because the same people appear in multiple counts.
Subclinical traits also deserve support
Beyond formal diagnoses, a further group of people experience neurodivergent traits that affect their daily lives but fall below current diagnostic thresholds. A 2024 UK study found that roughly 16% of adults either have a formal diagnosis or identify as neurodivergent, and that neurodiversity-related traits are distributed continuously across the population.2.
This means two things:
- You are not alone.
- Accommodating neurodivergent needs is not a niche investment. When every fifth person is neurodivergent, building systems that work for us should be part of the basic design.
“Is ADHD overdiagnosed?”