Around 1.7% of the UK population are affected by the chronic skin condition psoriasis, according to researchers at The University of Manchester and the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.

The figures, which have never been compiled before, are published today in the world’s first Global Psoriasis Atlas, an interactive web platform which aims construct a global picture of psoriasis. It is published on World Psoriasis Day today (29 October)

The team carried out extensive search of all available evidence and used the data in a statistical model to generate estimates of the prevalence of psoriasis for every country of the world.

Previously, such detailed information has only been available for a very small number of countries.

Also according to the Atlas, the country most affected by psoriasis is Norway with a prevalence of 1.98% of the overall population. The lowest prevalence is across East Asia at 0.12%.

Around 2% of the West’s population are affected and the region with the lowest prevalence is East Asia with a prevalence of 0.12%.

The UK is ranked 21st in countries with the highest prevalence of psoriasis worldwide , corresponding to approximately 1·1 million people affected by the disease.