Asthma and Asian Americans

  • From 2019–2021, an estimated 743,633 non-Hispanic Asian Americans in the United States had asthma.1
  • In 2024, Asian American adults had asthma at a rate that was 52% higher than adults of the total population.2
  • In 2021, non-Hispanic Asian Americans died from asthma at a rate that was 34% lower than the total population.3
  • In 2022, non-Hispanic Asian Americans comprised the smallest percentage (2.58%) of emergency department or urgent care clinic visits for asthma.4

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Prevalence

Current asthma among adults ages 18 and over, percentage, 2024
AsianTotal PopulationAsian only /
Total Population Ratio
4.58.60.52
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of current asthma for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024.
Adults ages 18 and over who have ever been told they have asthma, percentage, 2020 - 2022
Asian, Non-HispanicTotal PopulationAsian Non-Hispanic /
Total Population Ratio
4.713.60.35
Source: CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance. Most Recent Asthma Data.
Adults ages 18 and over who currently have asthma, percentage, 2018
Asian, Non-HispanicTotal PopulationAsian /
Total Population Ratio
7.813.60.57
Source: CDC, 2019. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table A-2a.
Adults ages 18 and over with asthma by Asian subgroup, percentage, 2004–2006
PopulationPopulation /
Total Asian Ratio
Total Asian8.01.00
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander10.21.28
Chinese5.90.74
Filipino10.71.34
Asian Indian7.70.96
Japanese8.31.04
Vietnamese7.10.89
Korean6.90.86
Source: CDC, 2008. Health Characteristics of the Asian Adult Population: United States, 2004–2006. Table 4.

Death rates

Asthma mortality, crude rate per 1,000,000 population, 2021
Asian, Non-HispanicTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Other Populations
8.613.10.66
Source: CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance. Most Recent Asthma Data.

Treatment

Prevalence of emergency department/urgent care visits with asthma as the first listed diagnosis in the past 12 months among all ages with current asthma, percentage, 2016–2018
Non-Hispanic AsianTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Total Population
14.911.91.25
Source: CDC, 2021. Asthma Surveillance – United States, 2006–2018. Supplementary Table 13.
Hospital admissions for asthma among adults ages 18–34 , rate per 100,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific IslanderTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander /
Total Population Ratio
Not Reported2.6Not Reported
Source: CDC, 2024. The Status of Asthma in the United States. Table 2.
People with current asthma who are now taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily, percentage, 2020
Non-Hispanic AsianTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Total Population Ratio
Not Reported33.8Not Reported
Source: AHRQ. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query.

Children

Current asthma among children under 18 years of age, percentage, 2019–2021
Non-Hispanic AsianTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Total Population Ratio
3.36.50.51
Source: CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance. Most Recent National Asthma Data.
Children under 18 years of age who were ever told they had asthma, age-adjusted percentage, 2018
AsianTotal PopulationAsian /
Total Population Ratio
8.2Not ReportedNot Reported
Source: CDC, 2019. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table C-1a.
Children under 18 years of age who still have asthma, age-adjusted percentage, 2018
AsianTotal PopulationAsian /
Total Population Ratio
3.9Not ReportedNot Reported
Source: CDC, 2019. Summary Health Statistics: National Health Interview Survey: 2018. Table C-1a.
Hospital admissions for asthma among children ages 2–17, rate per 100,000 population, 2020
Non-Hispanic AsianTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Total Population Ratio
10.7Not ReportedNot Reported
Source: AHRQ. National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. Data Query.
Asthma mortality among children ages 0–17, rate per million, 2021
Non-Hispanic AsianTotal PopulationNon-Hispanic Asian /
Total Population Ratio
Not Reported2.0Not Reported
Source: CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance. Most Recent National Asthma Data.

1 CDC, 2022. Data, Statistics, and Surveillance, Most Recent National Asthma Data. (Back to top)

2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). National Center for Health Statistics. Interactive Summary Health Statistics for Adults. Percentage of current asthma for adults aged 18 and over, United States, 2024. (Back to top)

3 Most Recent Asthma Data | Asthma Data | CDC (Back to top)

4 HCUPnet, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. https://datatools.ahrq.gov/hcupnet. (Back to top)


Date Last Reviewed: September 2025