How Common are Near-Death Experiences? Here’s What Useful Research Says

Most people likely assume that near-death experiences (NDEs) are impossibly rare, happening to only a tiny fraction of the population. But just how common are near-death experiences, really?

According to research data, near-death experiences affect anywhere from 5% to 40% of the population, with much of that research pointing toward a range between 10% and 20%.

Let’s put these numbers into perspective. The population of the United States is around 340 million as of August 2025. This means anywhere from 17 million (5%) to 136 million people (40%) either have had or will have NDEs in their lifetimes. And that’s just in the United States alone. Though it’s probably closer to a range between 34 million (10%) and 68 million people (20%).

Now think about what those numbers might look like worldwide, with our global population exceeding 8.142 billion people. Even by the most conservative estimates of 5%, that still means there are more than 407 million people globally who’ve had an NDE, or will have one at some point.

How do we know how common NDEs are?

How common are near-death experiences and how do we know nde prevalence data is accurate?
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

This question—how common are near-death experiences—is one researchers have been hoping to answer for as long as they’ve studied NDEs, which started in the 1970s. But NDE prevalence is a difficult number to pin down precisely. Large-scale surveys and clinical surveys form the backbone of what we’ve learned, but there are a lot of variables involved in figuring out just how common NDEs are.

Some researchers define NDEs more restrictively than others, and they deploy a variety of methodologies to collect and report data as well. And there are social stigmas to contend with, too. Not everyone is comfortable reporting their NDE to medical professionals or even discussing it with trusted friends or family, let alone with researchers. Medical professionals don’t always know how to identify NDEs or communicate with patients about them in a supportive, informative way.

All of this skews our data and makes it impossible to answer that question—how common are near-death experiences—with any degree of certainty. But we do know millions of people are having near-death experiences. And many people may not report their NDEs for months or years, if they do at all.

Who can have a near-death experience?

Near-death experiences are often experienced by those exposed to extremely dangerous, life-threatening scenarios known as near-death episodes. This includes physical illness or injury, harrowing experiences like combat, or even being clinically dead for a period of time. A person doesn’t need to be clinically dead to have an NDE.

There are no apparent restrictions on who might have an NDE, either. Anyone can experience an NDE—no person is more or less prone to them, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, socioeconomics, mental health, education, religious views, or any other factor or characteristic.

Read More: What causes near-death experiences, and who has them?

How common are near-death experiences versus NDLEs?

NDLEs—Near-Death-Like Experiences—don’t get the same level of attention from researchers as their more famous sibling, the NDE. But do NDLEs conflate the numbers? How common are near-death experiences versus NDLEs?

Near-death-like experiences typically occur outside of life-threatening emergencies. NDLEs can happen during intense meditation, at moments of intense grief of stress, when a person faints, or when consuming certain recreational drugs. But otherwise, they’re quite similar to NDEs, with similar or even identical characteristics.

These overlaps in similarity do sometimes inflate NDE prevalence data, with some studies counting NDLEs as NDEs. But many researchers do take the time to distinguish and separate the two similar phenomena.

For instance, Pim van Lommel’s Lancet cardiac arrest research only counted experiences during actual clinical death and near-death scenarios. These studies tend to yield lower but more reliable NDE prevalence rates, in the range of 10% to 20%.

Get involved in NDE research with IANDS!

Near-death experiences are a truly fascinating, extraordinary phenomenon. And IANDS is devoted not only to researching NDEs and related experiences, but to educating the public, combating stigmas, and normalizing conversations about them, too. And we could use your help in reaching these important goals. You can support IANDS in a number of ways: