Mental health is essential to the health and well-being of individuals, communities and societies. Yet, as an area of public health, it remains under-prioritized, under-funded and under-evaluated, resulting in extreme distress and disability, service gaps and inequity. Despite some policy improvements since COVID-19, global investment, services, and workforce for mental health remain critically underfunded and unevenly distributed, with only 2% of health budgets allocated to mental health on average.
This Atlas is vital for governments and stakeholders to monitor progress, identify gaps, and push for urgent investment in mental health infrastructure and services, particularly in light of post-pandemic challenges and growing global mental health burdens.
Key Themes:
Severe underfunding of mental health globally (median 2% of health budgets)
Wide gaps in mental health workforce (only 13.5 professionals per 100k people globally)
Slow transition to community-based mental health care
Increasing use of digital and tele-mental health services
Inadequate mental health data systems in many countries
Stagnant or declining progress on global mental health targets
Persistent inequalities between low-income and high-income countries
Positive trend: Improved emergency preparedness and rights-based planning
