One in Four Individuals Will Develop Heart Failure in Their Lifetime

MONDAY, Oct. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The lifetime risk for heart failure has increased to 24 percent, according to a report published online Sept. 22 in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.

Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., from the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues from the Heart Failure Society of America updated the annual report Heart Failure Epidemiology and Outcomes Statistics. The writing group members reviewed available published data regarding U.S. trends in heart failure epidemiology, incidence, and prevalence. They also looked at rates of heart failure and all-cause mortality and hospitalizations, along with differences by sex, race/ethnicity, and age.

The group reports that the prevalence of heart failure is expected to rise to 8.7 million in 2030. Both age-adjusted heart failure incidence and prevalence are higher among Black individuals versus other racial and ethnic groups. Nearly one in four individuals will develop heart failure in their lifetime. Heart failure contributed to 45 percent of cardiovascular deaths in the United States in 2022. Black, American Indian, and Alaska Native individuals have the highest all-cause, age-adjusted heart failure mortality rates of any racial and ethnic groups. Managing heart failure is costly, with projected estimated total heart failure-related expenses reaching $858 billion by 2050. Fewer than one in four eligible patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction receive quadruple guideline-directed medical therapy. 

“Heart failure is a growing epidemic affecting millions of individuals across all demographics,” Fonarow said in a statement. “With a surge in mortality and continued underutilization of evidence-based therapies, it is imperative to prioritize improvements in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart failure.”

HF STATS 2025 Report