A study titled "Global regional and national burden and trends of early-onset Parkinson's disease from 1990 to 2021" was published on July 1, 2026, in the journal npj Parkinson's Disease. The research analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021, covering 204 countries and territories. The study defined early-onset Parkinson's disease as cases occurring in individuals aged 20 to 49 years.

The global burden of early-onset Parkinson's disease more than doubled between 1990 and 2021. Global incidence rose 187%, from 28,267 cases in 1990 to 81,047 cases in 2021. Age-standardized global incidence increased from 1.46 per 100,000 individuals to 2.35 per 100,000 individuals over the same period. Global prevalence rose 154%, moving from 190,487 cases in 1990 to 483,872 cases in 2021. Age-standardized global prevalence increased from 10.03 per 100,000 individuals to 14.00 per 100,000 individuals. Age-standardized global years lived with disability for the condition increased from 1.65 per 100,000 individuals to 2.27 per 100,000 individuals.

Men were approximately 1.5 times more likely to develop early-onset Parkinson's disease than women. The study estimated male prevalence at 16.74 per 100,000 and female prevalence at 11.23 per 100,000. Middle and high-middle Socio-Demographic Index zones experienced the fastest growth rates, with East Asia and Andean Latin America leading this growth. Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador had the highest age-standardized rates at the national level. China and Norway showed some of the fastest national upward trends, with China's incidence estimated annual percentage change at 2.55%.

The study indicated that early-onset Parkinson's disease rates correlated positively with total pesticide use per cropland area. The correlation (rho) was 0.41 for incidence and 0.34 for prevalence, with a p-value less than 0.001 for both. Researchers matched Global Burden of Disease data against the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Statistical Database to calculate total pesticide application. Population growth drove rising disability metrics in low-income zones, while escalating underlying prevalence rates were the primary drivers in middle and high-middle Socio-Demographic Index regions.

The global prevalence of Parkinson's disease, encompassing all age groups, rose from approximately 3.1 million in 1990 to approximately 11.8 million in 2021.