The Department of Health has today published ‘The Prevalence of
Autism (including Aspergers Syndrome) in School age Children in
Northern Ireland 2019’. These figures have been extracted from
the Northern Ireland School Census collected by the Department of
Education.
Key Facts and Figures:
- The estimated prevalence of autism within the school aged
population in Northern Ireland has increased by 2.1 percentage
points from 1.2% in 2008/09 to 3.3% in 2018/19.
- There is a significant difference in the estimated prevalence
rates of autism between the genders, with males almost four times
more likely to be identified with autism than females, which is
in line with international findings.
- The Northern Ireland urban population has a statistically
significant higher prevalence rate than the rural population.
- Using the NI Multiple Deprivation Measure (MDM) ranking, from
2008/09 to 2018/19, the rate of autism has increased in all the
MDM deciles. However, the increase has been more prominent in the
most deprived MDM decile. In 2018/19, the rate of autism in the
most deprived MDM decile was 58% higher than the Northern Ireland
average.
- The estimated prevalence of autism has increased across all
school years between 2009/10 and 2018/19. The greatest increase
in the number of children identified with autism occurred in
those in Year 9 (aged 13 years).
- In 2009/10, 74% of children identified as having autism were
classified at Stage 5 of the Special Educational Needs (SEN)
Assessment. In 2018/19, the percentage of children identified as
having autism classified at Stage 5 of the SEN Assessment had
fallen to 58%.
Notes to editors:
1. This information was collated by Community Information Branch
within the Department of Health.
2. Statistics detailed within the publication were sourced from
the Department of Education and include the number of school aged
children identified with Autism (including Aspergers) by HSC
Trust area, Urban/Rural, Multiple Deprivation Measure, gender,
school year and special educational needs assessment. Trend
analyses for 11 years are presented regionally and by HSC Trusts.
3. This publication is available online at: https://www.health-ni.gov.uk/articles/autism-statistics
