Global Glaucoma Burden

Despite rising absolute case counts, age-standardised prevalence and DALY rates declined throughout the 1990–2021 study period. All 27 GBD regions exhibited declining age-standardised rates, with South Asia demonstrating the most significant reductions. Global glaucoma DALYs rose 62.5%, from approximately 467,600 in 1990 to 759,900 in 2021. Global prevalent glaucoma cases rose 86.3%, from approximately 4.07 million in 1990 to 7.59 million in 2021. The sharpest increases in absolute glaucoma burden occurred during 2010–2019. Population ageing was the primary driver of rising DALYs (+102.59%), with favourable epidemiological changes providing a partial offsetting effect of −85.66%. Population growth was the dominant driver of rising glaucoma prevalence, accounting for 533.91% of the net increase.