New ADHD diagnoses among children and adolescents in Germany have risen significantly. In 2024, there were 16 percent more diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among children up to and including age 17 compared to the previous year. This is according to a current analysis by DAK-Gesundheit, which was made available to the news agency AFP. Extrapolated figures show that around 202,000 young people nationwide were diagnosed with ADHD for the first time in 2024.
Boys received a first-time diagnosis roughly twice as often as girls. Extrapolated figures for 2024 show this affected around 136,500 boys and 65,000 girls. At the same time, new diagnoses among girls rose by 21 percent within a single year, a much sharper increase than among boys, at just over 14 percent. Compared to 2020, diagnoses among girls even show an increase of around 46 percent.
The increase affected all age groups, but was particularly pronounced among schoolchildren aged 10 to 14, with a rise of 22 percent. In 2024, around 18 out of every 1,000 schoolchildren received a new ADHD diagnosis. The year before, the figure was around 15 out of every 1,000. Overall, primary school children are most frequently diagnosed with ADHD for the first time, in 2024, this affected nearly 24 out of every 1,000 children aged five to nine.
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is the most common mental disorder among children and adolescents and can also occur in adulthood. Children with so-called "Zappelphilipp syndrome" show less stamina, are easily distracted, and have a pronounced urge to move. They also tend toward impulsive and thoughtless behavior and are emotionally unstable. Scientists believe that, alongside genetic factors, environmental influences also play a role in its causes.
ADHD is not a "fashionable diagnosis or a case of overdiagnosis," emphasized Christoph Correll, director of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy at Berlin's Charité hospital. He explained that increasing pressure and stress, as well as negative influences from social media, could cause a mental illness to manifest more readily in individuals with a genetic predisposition. In addition, he noted that the topic has become more prominent in public discourse.
DAK CEO Andreas Storm believes stronger coordination in the care of young people is needed. "Only in this way can they be stabilized early and given targeted support before the burdens become entrenched," Storm explained. For Michael Hubmann, president of the German Professional Association of Paediatricians (BVKJ), the sharp increase among girls is an indication that ADHD has long been underdiagnosed in this group.
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