Facts & Figures

The Cerebral Palsy Population

About 2 to 3 children out of every thousand born in the UK have cerebral palsy.
17 million people live with Cerebral Palsy worldwide
Approx. 111,000 people have Cerebral Palsy in the UK2/3rd are adultsSimilar population to Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease
By 2031, there will be almost a 3-fold increase in the number of people with Cerebral Palsy over the age of 65.
Approximately 1,800 children are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy every year in the UKThis is an incidence rate of around 1 in 400 births. Despite advances in healthcare, whilst this figure has fluctuated over the past 60 years it has not changed considerably.Cerebral Palsy is 3 times more common than Down syndrome
Cerebral Palsy is nearly 30 times more common than muscular dystrophy
The incidence rate for Cerebral Palsy is the same across Europe, the United States and Australia.

The cause of cerebral palsy is not well understood but appears to result from an interaction between multiple factors.
Although the cause of cerebral palsy is complex, several risk factors for developing cerebral palsy have been identified.
- Infants with a lower gestational age at delivery are more likely to have cerebral palsy. However, 50-65% of children with cerebral palsy are born at term.
- Other risk factors include being a twin, birth asphyxia, intrauterine inflammation or infection or both, abnormal duration of labor and breech delivery.
- Risk factors relating to the mother include being aged over 40 years, a prior diagnosis of seizures, intellectual disability, thyroid disease, diabetes or asthma, and obesity. Low birth weight, placental abnormalities, and emergency Caesarean delivery are also associated with a higher risk of developing cerebral palsy regardless of gestational age at delivery.
- Other factors that are strongly associated with developing cerebral palsy in infants born at pre-term and term are neonatal seizures, respiratory distress syndrome, neonatal low blood glucose and neonatal infection.

By age 15, about 52% of people with cerebral palsy are able to walk without any assistance. A further 13% of people are able to walk with the help of a walking aid.
Between 20% and 50% of adults with the cerebral palsy report that they’ve experienced a deterioration in their mobility with age. Many people report this begins at 20-30 years of age, although these varies depending on whether one or both sides of their body is affected.
Some people with the cerebral palsy report that this deterioration in their gait is due to pain, balance problems, a decline in muscle strength, increased stiffness and fatigue, and reduced aerobic fitness.
People with cerebral palsy use up to twice as much energy as people without cerebral palsy to walk.

The lifetime costs for children born in 2016 with cerebral palsy is estimated to total £2bn. This is based on international benchmarks, with 20% related to medical costs and 80% to indirect factors such as reduced employment opportunities and premature mortality.