Schizophrenia affects around 0.3–0.7% of people at some point in their life, or 24 million people worldwide as of 2011. It occurs 1.4 times more frequently in males than females and typically appears earlier in men—the peak ages of onset are 20–28 years for males and 26–32 years for females. Onset in childhood is much rarer, as is onset in middle- or old age. Despite the received wisdom that Schizophrenia occurs at similar rates worldwide, its frequency varies across the world, within countries, and at the local and neighborhood level. It causes approximately 1% of worldwide disability adjusted life years and resulted in 20,000 deaths in 2010. The rate of Schizophrenia varies up to threefold depending on how it is defined.
		In 2000, the World Health Organization found the prevalence and incidence of Schizophrenia to be roughly similar around the world, with age-standardized prevalence per 100,000 ranging from 343 in Africa to 544 in Japan and Oceania for men and from 378 in Africa to 527 in Southeastern Europe for women.