ADHD diagnoses among children and young people continue to increase
The number of ADHD diagnoses continues to rise among children and young people aged 7–17. Diagnoses remain more common among boys, but in recent years the increase has been greatest among girls aged 13–17.
According to recent data from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), in 2024 an ADHD diagnosis was recorded for approximately 12.5% of boys aged 7–12 and about 11.5% of boys aged 13–17.
Although the number of diagnoses among girls is still lower than among boys, it has increased more rapidly, and gender differences have narrowed over the past decade. In 2024, ADHD was diagnosed in approximately 4.5% of primary school–aged girls and around 7% of girls aged 13–17.
“ADHD diagnoses among children and young people have increased throughout the entire review period from 2015 to 2024, with no clear change in the trend so far. This poses a major challenge especially for primary health care, where ADHD diagnostics and treatment are mainly concentrated. Diagnosing ADHD requires careful multidisciplinary assessment, which is often not possible to implement to a sufficient extent within current services,” says Terhi Aalto-Setälä, Chief Physician at THL.
The increase in diagnoses has been faster than the growth in ADHD medication use
At the same time, the use of ADHD medications has also increased. In recent years, however, the rise in diagnoses among children and adolescents has been faster than the increase in medication use.
“This is an interesting observation. The use of ADHD medication in Finland is already relatively high compared to other Nordic countries, particularly among primary school–aged boys. The fact that diagnoses have increased faster than medication use in recent years may indicate changes in treatment practices. This phenomenon affects a significant share of the population, and it is important to monitor its development using register data, as THL and Kela are currently doing,” says Miika Vuori, Research Manager at Kela.
THL’s statistics describe the so-called administrative prevalence of ADHD, meaning register-based data on children and adolescents who have had an ADHD diagnosis recorded in healthcare registers during the year.
The data reflect the phenomenon as it appears within primary healthcare, school health services, and specialized healthcare, as well as follow-up systems, and indicate the extent to which children and young people are directed into ADHD diagnostic processes at the system level.
Further information
More detailed age- and region-specific diagnostic data are available in THL’s statistical database
Terhi Aalto-Setälä
Chief Physician
THL
tel. +358 29 524 7437
[email protected]
Miika Vuori
Research Manager
Kela Research Unit
tel. +358 20 634 1790
[email protected]
Maaret Vuorenmaa
Senior Researcher
THL
tel. +358 29 524 7008
[email protected]