Registered Blind and Partially Sighted People, England 2022-23

In total there were 20,330 new registrations in 2022-23, a decrease of 2.9% or 615 new registrations since the previous reporting period (20,945 in 2019-20).

Despite the decrease at England level since the last collection, 42.0% of local authorities did report an increase in new registrations. At local authority level, the change ranged from a decrease of 100.0% to an increase of 216.7% (Please see the Data Tables for further detail).

In 2022-23, 9,660 (47.5%) were new registrations to the blind register.

Table 3: Number of new registrations for both blind and partially sighted people, by age group, per 100,000 population in England, 2022-23

Totals may not match the sum of parts due to rounding.

Source: SSDA902 Collection, 2022-23, NHS England and ONS mid-year 2022 population estimates

Table 3 above illustrates that the number of new registrations per 100,000 population is greatest for those aged 75 and over.

If we consider changes over the last three collection periods for all ages, Table 4a below shows an upward trend for new blind registrations, whereas Table 4b show a downward trend for new partially sighted registrations.

When comparing just the latest two collection years, age bands 0-4, 5-17 and 18-49 have all seen a decrease, while age bands of 50 and over have either increased or stayed the same for new blind registrations. For new partially sighted registrations the 0-4 and 5-17 age bands have both seen an increase and the remaining age groups have all decreased when compared to the previous collection.  

Table 4a: Number of people with a new blind registration, by age group, 2016-17, 2019-20 and 2022-23

Totals may not match the sum of parts due to rounding.

Number and % change based on latest two years

Source: SSDA902 Collection, 2022-23, NHS England

Table 4b: Number of people with a new partially sighted registration, by age group, 2016-17, 2019-20 and 2022-23

Totals may not match the sum of parts due to rounding.

Number and % change based on latest two years

Source: SSDA902 Collection, 2022-23, NHS England

Nationally the majority (64.7%) of new registrations are from people aged 75 and over; the London region has the lowest proportion of new registrations in this age group at 51.2% and South West the highest at 70.8%.

Table 5 below shows the number of new registrations per 100,000 population by age group and region. Within the 75 and over age group, East Midlands has the lowest and Yorkshire and The Humber has the highest number of new registrations per 100,000 population.

Table 5: New registrations for both blind and partially sighted people per 100,000 population, by age band and region, 2022-23

Source: SSDA902 Collection, 2022-23, NHS England and ONS mid-year 2022 population estimates