WHO: 1 in 6 people globally affected by infertility

An estimated 17.5 percent of the global population — or about 1 in 6 people — is affected by infertility, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Infertility is defined by the failure to achieve a pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular, unprotected sexual intercourse, the report says.

The WHO report — described as the "first of its kind in a decade" — includes an analysis of infertility data from 1990 through 2021. The data came from 133 previously published studies on infertility prevalence.

Dr Gitau Mburu, a scientist of fertility research at WHO, said, "Lifetime prevalence of infertility does not differ by income classification of countries.

"Lifetime prevalence was 17.8% in high-income countries and 16.5% in low- and middle-income countries, which, again, was not a substantial or significant difference."

There are differences in how much people are spending on fertility treatments and how accessible such treatments are, according to the report.

"People in the poorest countries were found to spend a significantly larger proportion of their income on a single cycle of IVF (in vitro fertilization) or on fertility care compared with wealthier countries," Mburu said, "exemplifying that this is an area with high-level risk of inequality in access to health care."

Dr David Keefe, reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at the NYU Langone Fertility Center in New York, told CNN that the report didn't surprise him in terms of the content, he said. Keefe wasn't involved with the WHO research.

"It was a welcome acknowledgment of the other foot dropping on the population front," he said. "The acknowledgment that this is a worldwide problem, and that additional attention must be devoted to it in terms of policy and strategy is welcome."