Welcome to the Key Information and Statistics page. Here you will find research into frequently requested figures on areas such as prevalence of sight loss, the estimated number of blind and partially sighted people and the social and economic cost of sight loss in the UK. As prevalence figures can be comprehensive you can find them on a dedicated Prevalence page.
Key findings
In this section you can access key findings into the experiences and lives of blind and partially sighted people.
Network 1000
Network 1000 is a large scale survey of the needs, circumstances and opinions of over 1,000 blind and partially sighted people. Managed by Vision 2020 UK, the project is the first of its kind to be conducted with major sector-wide involvement.
It's key aims are to establish a sample of 1000 people who are registered as blind or partially sighted which is as far as possible representative of the visually impaired population in the UK, and then to begin to consult them on a range of issues. The report was published in August 2006.
A report is also available comparing the general and registered populations for people with sight loss:
Understanding the Needs of Blind and Partially Sighted People: their experiences, perspectives and expectations
This report was commissioned by RNIB and prepared by SSMR at the University of Surrey in May 2009. It looks at findings and recommendations to consider in the development of support services for those with sight loss.
If you cannot find what you require here, you can visit the RNIB Research Library.