Numbers in Rheumatology

Approximately 1.8 million people in Germany have an inflammatory rheumatic disease. This number and other numbers are based on an estimate from 2022 that we calculated using a systematic review and German population data. All prevalence estimates for the individual diseases can be found here.

In addition to prevalence and incidence, we regularly calculate the needs and developments in rheumatology care and present the development of rheumatological care. Figures include the number of outpatient and inpatient rheumatology specialists, the proportion of part-time work, the number of new specialist recognitions, and much more. In 2024, these were published in the Memorandum on Rheumatological Care in Germany, an initiative of the German Society for Rheumatology (DGRh) together with the Professional Association of German Rheumatologists (BDRh), the Association of Rheumatological Acute Care Clinics (VRA) and the German Patient Self-care Organisation Deutsche Rheuma Liga (DRL).