PROJECTED ESTIMATES OF VISION IMPAIRMENT

According to Prevent Blindness America, twice as many people will are  

blind in 2030 as there are today (Prevent Blindness America, 1998 2000). 

The following projections are based on estimates of self reported vision impairment 

from The Lighthouse National Survey on Vision Loss (The Lighthouse Inc., 1995) and 

applied to US Census population projections.   

17% of persons age 45 and older report some form of vision impairment, 

representing 16.5 million persons.  By the year 2010, when all baby 

boomers are age 45 and older, this number will increase to 20 million.  

9% of persons age 45 and older report a severe vision impairment,  

representing 8.7 million persons.  By the year 2010, when all baby boomers 

are age 45 and older, this number will increase to 10.7 million.  

About 7.3 million, or 21% of persons age 65 and over, report some form of 

vision impairment.  As baby boomers age, this number will reach 8.3 million 

in the year 2010, 11.3 million in 2020, and in 2030, 14.8 million persons 

age 65 and older will report some form of vision loss. 

About 3.8 million, or 11% of persons age 65 and over report a severe 

vision impairment.  As baby boomers age, this number will reach 4.3 million 

in the year 2010, 5.9 million in 2020, and in 2030, 7.7 million persons age 

65 and older will report a severe vision impairment. 

Vision impairment is based on self report and is defined on page 2. 

Severe vision impairment is based on self report and is defined on page 3. 

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