Home > Countries > Spain

Spain

EnglishEspañol

Action for lung health in Spain

Spain has recently formed a national respiratory coalition to make lung health a priority in health policy. You can find out more about the coalition’s activities on the national project page.

5.2 million

people living with respiratory diseases

111,000

deaths from respiratory diseases

2.1 million

healthy life years lost to respiratory diseases

€52.4 billion

societal economic cost of respiratory diseases*

in Spain in 2021

*the societal economic cost of respiratory disease is generated using DALYs and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, to give a cost of the healthy years of life lost to help guide decision-making around health interventions. Visit the methodology section to learn more about this calculation.

Data from Spain by disease

The charts below present data from GBD studies to provide a uniform evaluation of the state of lung health. To find out more about how this data is put together, visit the methodology page. All charts are freely available to download by clicking the three dots in the top right hand corner. Please reference Lung Facts when sharing.

  • Asthma
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Lung cancer
  • Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs)
  • Tuberculosis (TB)
  • Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs)
  • Mesothelioma
  • COVID-19
  • Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH)

Additional data from Spain:

  • Approximately half of the adult Spanish population have respiratory symptoms and this prevalence has remained quite stable over the last 20 years. Smoking remains the main factor associated with respiratory symptoms.
    Miravitlles M, Soler-Cataluña JJ, Soriano JB, García-Río F, de Lucas P, Alfageme I, Casanova C, Rodríguez González-Moro JM, Sánchez G, Ancochea J, Cosío BG. Respiratory symptoms and their determinants in the general Spanish population: changes over 20 years. ERJ Open Res. 2022 Nov 14;8(4):00067-2022.
  • 22.3% of the studied population was at risk of developing COPD, with similar symptomatic and structural changes to those with well-established disease.
    Cosío BG, Casanova C, Soler-Cataluña JJ, Soriano JB, García-Río F, de Lucas P, Alfageme I, Rodríguez González-Moro JM, Sánchez G, Ancochea J, Miravitlles M. Unravelling young COPD and pre-COPD in the general population. ERJ Open Res. 2023 Feb 20;9(1):00334-2022.
  • The prevalence of COPD was 11.8% Underdiagnosis of COPD was 74.7%. COPD remains prevalent in Spain and frequently underdiagnosed.
    Soriano JB, Alfageme I, Miravitlles M, de Lucas P, Soler-Cataluña JJ, García-Río F, Casanova C, Rodríguez González-Moro JM, Cosío BG, Sánchez G, Ancochea J. Prevalence and Determinants of COPD in Spain: EPISCAN II. Arch Bronconeumol (Engl Ed). 2021 Jan;57(1):61-69.