Quick Statistics About Taste and Smell

Taste

• Almost 1 in 5 Americans (or 19%) over the age of 40 reports some alteration in their sense of taste.¹
  • The prevalence of reported alterations in the sense of taste increases with age, and is highest, at 27%, for people ages 80 years and older.¹
  • Risk factors include dry mouth, nose/facial injury, and cold or flu lasting more than a month in the past year.¹
• 1 in 20 Americans (or 5%) reports experiencing dysgeusia [dis-GYOO-zee-a], a disorder characterized by distorted taste.¹ This disorder is often persistent.
  • Dysgeusia is more commonly reported in women (64% of reported cases).¹
• Based on their genetics, certain people can taste the bitterness of phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) or a related substance called 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). In the United States, about 25% are super-tasters who describe PTC as extremely bitter, 50% are medium tasters of PTC, and 25% cannot taste PTC.² Medium tasters and especially super-tasters tend to dislike more types of food, particularly if they are strongly flavored.³
  • The ability to taste PTC/PROP varies around the world and among different ethnic and racial groups.²
• Compared to never smokers, dependent smokers (people who need to smoke within 30 minutes of waking) and chronic smokers (people who have smoked a pack daily for several years) reported lower sensitivity to bitter and salty tastes.⁴
• Among 138,897 COVID-19-positive patients, 39.2% reported taste dysfunction.⁵
• Among adults 40 and older, approximately 10% noted a loss in their ability to taste food flavors compared to when they were young adults. 5% reported distortions in their sense of taste, most commonly related to bitter and metallic tastes.¹
• Among adults ages 40 or older who reported persistent dry mouth in the past year, approximately 43% experienced changes in their sense of taste.¹

Smell

• Nearly 1 in 4 Americans (or 23%) over the age of 40 reports some alteration in their sense of smell.¹
  • Rates increase in older populations and are highest for those over 80 years old, at 32%.¹
  • Risk factors include sinonasal symptoms (of the nose and sinuses), heavy drinking, previous loss of consciousness from head injury, poverty, and dry mouth.¹
• Approximately 1 in 15 Americans (or 6.5%) over the age of 40 reports sometimes experiencing phantom odor perception. (The survey asked if participants smelled unpleasant, bad, or burning odors when nothing is there; not all phantom odor perception fits into this category.⁶)
  • Women are more likely to report phantom odors, particularly if they are between the ages of 40 and 60, compared to above 60 years of age.⁷
  • Those with a history of head injury or poor overall health are more likely to report phantom odors.⁶
• Approximately 1 in 8 Americans over age 40 (up to 13.3 million people, or 12.4% of the population) has measurable smell dysfunction.⁷
  • Approximately 3% of Americans have anosmia (no sense of smell) or severe hyposmia (minimal sense of smell).⁷
  • The prevalence of any type of smell impairment increases with age: 4% in Americans ages 40-49, 11% in Americans ages 50-59, 13% in Americans ages 60-69, 25% in Americans 70-79, and 39% in Americans ages 80 and above.⁷
  • The prevalence of smell impairment is higher in men, ethnic minorities (non-Hispanic Black and Mexican American), and in those with lower educational attainment and/or family income.⁷
• On average, people with smell dysfunction eat a less healthy diet, with more saturated fats and added sugars.⁸
• A study of 1,636 people found that individuals with cognitive impairment are 3 times more likely than others to have mild to moderate olfactory impairment. The study also found that people with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease are 10 times more likely than others to have mild olfactory impairment, and 16 times more likely to have moderate olfactory impairment.⁹