Steroid use statistics: who actually uses anabolic steroids, and why the 3.3% figure gets misread
Steroid use statistics explained: the 3.3% global lifetime figure is pooled, not a general-population rate, and modern use is mostly appearance-driven.
You want one number: how many people use anabolic steroids, and whether the guy beside you is typical.
The honest answer: the widely repeated 3.3% figure is a pooled global lifetime estimate, not 3.3% of ordinary people. It combines different populations and methods. The useful reframe: steroids became a looks drug—modern users are usually non-competitive men pursuing appearance, not elite athletes seeking a medal.
Key numbers
- 3.3% — pooled global lifetime AAS use across 187 studies and 271 lifetime prevalence rates. Source
- 22% — the share of users who started before age 20 in pooled age-of-onset data. Source
- 82.2% — surveyed male users citing improved appearance as a motive. Source
- 34.4% — estimated lifetime androgen dependence among users, roughly one in three. Source
- 4.0% to 1.2% — 12th-grade U.S. lifetime use from its 2002 peak to 2024. Source
- 3.00 times — adjusted heart-attack risk in Danish men sanctioned for AAS use versus matched controls. Source
Table of contents
- How many people use anabolic steroids
- Are most steroid users athletes
- How common is steroid use among teenagers today
- Why do steroid statistics disagree so much
- How many steroid users become dependent
- What do long term studies show about health risks
- Are anabolic steroids legal and where do SARMs fit
- How to cite this page
- The bottom line
- Sources
How many people use anabolic steroids
The cleanest headline is 3.3% lifetime use across pooled worldwide samples, but that is not the percentage of the general population. “Lifetime” means ever used, while “past year” means use within a defined recent period; those measures answer different questions.
| Population | Rate | Measure and year |
|---|---|---|
| All pooled studies worldwide | 3.3% | Lifetime, 2014 meta-analysis |
| Men and women in pooled samples | 6.4% / 1.6% | Lifetime, males / females |
| Americans aged 13–50 | 2.9–4.0 million | Estimated ever used, pre-2013 data |
| U.S. 12th graders | 1.1% | Past year, 2025 |
| U.S. high school students | 2.98% | Ever used, 2017 |
| England and Wales aged 16–59 | 0.14% | Past year, year ending March 2025 |
| England and Wales aged 16–24 | 0.31% | Past year, year ending March 2025 |
The 187 studies covered general-population groups, athletes, gym users, prisoners and drug users; methods and samples predicted the estimate. In England and Wales, the Crime Survey, a household survey, estimated that 45,000 people aged 16–59 used anabolic steroids in the last year.
The pooled figure maps published evidence; it is a poor answer to “what share of ordinary people around me uses?”
Are most steroid users athletes
No. The strongest consistent description is a non-competitive man lifting for appearance: young to middle-aged, often outside elite sport. A systematic review found androgen abuse more prevalent among athletes, injection drug users, recreational sportspeople, and sexual and gender minorities than in general-population samples, but that does not make athletes the typical user.
Most users are nonathlete weightlifters, and 22% started before 20.
In a survey of 2,385 men who had used AAS, 82.2% cited appearance, 50% strength gain and 29.87% self-esteem or body-image issues. A separate 2024 international survey found athletic or physical performance, body appearance or cosmetic reasons, and self-described hormone replacement therapy were near-equal motives: 18.9%, 18.3% and 16.9%. The question formats differ, so do not merge the percentages.
For physique's first-impression side, see do women like muscular men and the most attractive male physique. A physique that reads well is a threshold many men can reach naturally.
Appearance can be the motive; motive does not prove every user shares a goal or every physique signal is drug-related.
How common is steroid use among teenagers today
Teen use is lower than its early-2000s peak in the U.S. The latest Monitoring the Future figures put past-year use at 0.8% in 8th grade, 0.8% in 10th grade and 1.1% in 12th grade in 2025.
| Grade 12 measure | Peak | Latest |
|---|---|---|
| Lifetime use | 4.0% in 2002 | 1.2% in 2024 |
| Past-year use | 2.5% in 2002 and 2004 | 1.1% in 2025 |
Monitoring the Future says steroid use for all grades peaked around 2002 and declined. The CDC’s older Youth Risk Behavior Survey used different wording: ever-use peaked at 6.1% in 2003 and was 3.2% in 2013; its latest verified national figure here is 2.98% in 2017, including 3.46% of boys and 2.41% of girls.
Those series should not be casually stacked. Different questions and imprecise “steroid” wording can produce false positives, including confusion with corticosteroids or supplements. MTF removed lifetime and past-30-day steroid questions in 2025, leaving past-year use as its tracked measure.
In 2013 YRBS data, 12.6% of boys who saw themselves as very underweight and 11.9% who saw themselves as very overweight reported ever misusing anabolic steroids, versus 3.8% of boys who felt about the right weight. See our male body-image statistics and body dysmorphia statistics pages on looksmaxxing-driven appearance anxiety.
Teen surveys are useful warning lights, but wording and mode changes prevent a continuous count.
Why do steroid statistics disagree so much
Steroid statistics disagree because the denominator changes, the question changes, and the people answering change. A recruited sample of adult users is not comparable with a household survey, and “ever used” is not comparable with “used last year.”
Pooled surveys estimated lifetime use at 6.4% for males and 1.6% for females, yet women were 1.8% of users across five post-2000 studies. This suggests false positives when “steroid” is imprecise.
One review found teenage-girl estimates from 7.3% to 0.1%, with true lifetime prevalence possibly 0.1%. Respondents may confuse anabolic steroids with corticosteroids or supplements.
The same issue makes “steroid use grows every year” too broad. U.S. teen measures fell from early-2000s highs, and England and Wales reported 0.14% past-year use among 16–59-year-olds in the year ending March 2025, down significantly from 0.29% in 1995. This defeats automatic-growth claims without proving universal decline.
The data can show direction within a consistent series; they cannot make every population comparable.
How many steroid users become dependent
Among people who use anabolic steroids, the best pooled estimate is 34.4% lifetime androgen dependence, or roughly one in three. That is a user denominator, not one in three people in the general population.
The estimate comes from a 2023 meta-analysis of 18 studies and 1,782 users. At I² 85%, estimates were heterogeneous: a warning signal, not an individual prediction.
In a web survey of 2,385 men who had used AAS in the past five years, 46.16% had tried to stop; 60.22% were unsuccessful. The self-selected sample cannot estimate all users.
Anyone using or considering use should speak with a doctor. This is informational, not a diagnosis or stopping plan; clinician support matters for dependence or withdrawal.
Dependence is not inevitable, and these studies cannot identify who will develop it.
What do long term studies show about health risks
The strongest quantified evidence here comes from Danish observational cohorts comparing men sanctioned for AAS use in fitness-centre doping tests with matched controls. It shows materially higher cardiovascular and mortality risks, while also preserving an important null result: no short-term cancer increase was detected.
In one cohort, 1,189 sanctioned men (mean age 27.4) were followed about 11 years alongside 59,450 matched controls. There were 33 deaths among AAS users and 578 among controls, corresponding to a hazard ratio of 2.81. Of the 33 user deaths, 17 were unnatural, primarily accidents, and 16 natural, most commonly cancer and cardiovascular disease.
The cardiovascular study found 3.00-times adjusted heart-attack risk, 8.90-fold cardiomyopathy risk and 3.63-fold heart-failure risk, plus adjusted risks of 2.42 for venous thromboembolism and 2.26 for arrhythmias. These are relative risks in a young cohort, not individual predictions.
Other Danish findings included acne, gynaecomastia (male breast-tissue growth), and erectile dysfunction, each affecting more than 10% of AAS users and significantly more than controls. Psychiatric treatment was higher after sanction for anxiolytic and antipsychotic medication, while elevated antidepressant use before sanction suggests bidirectional or confounded association.
A cancer cohort of 1,189 male androgen users followed about 11 years found no short-term cancer increase, with an incidence rate ratio of 1.05 and no prostate or breast cancers; limited sample, young age and follow-up mean risk cannot be excluded.
These observational comparisons support concern and medical attention, not a claim that every outcome was caused by AAS.
Are anabolic steroids legal and where do SARMs fit
In the United States, anabolic steroids are listed in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 added the statutory definition of anabolic steroid, and the 2004 Act amended that definition and funded research and education.
SARMs, or selective androgen receptor modulators, are separate. A 2025 systematic review estimated SARM use among athletes at 1% to 3%; no SARM is FDA-approved and online compounds are often contaminated.
Legality is not a safety certificate, and labels do not reliably describe contents. We do not provide sourcing, dosing, cycle or “safe use” instructions. For personal legal or medical questions, consult a clinician and applicable law.
U.S. scheduling answers a legal classification question; it does not measure prevalence or settle medical risk for every person.
How to cite this page
Suggested citation: Real World Appeal. “Steroid use statistics: who actually uses anabolic steroids, and why the 3.3% figure gets misread.” realworldappeal.com, September 2026. https://realworldappeal.com/blog/steroid-use-statistics
Sources were retrieved 10 September 2026, including the Monitoring the Future 2025 survey and the Crime Survey for England and Wales year ending March 2025. Primary sources are linked throughout so readers can cite the underlying studies and official data directly.
The bottom line
The answer is not “3.3% of people.” It is 3.3% lifetime use across pooled, highly different samples. The typical modern user is more often a non-competitive man pursuing appearance than an elite athlete, teen use is below its early-2000s peak in the U.S., and about one in three users in pooled evidence develops dependence.
The memorable line is simple: steroids became a looks drug, but looks are still a threshold, not a ladder. Use our free photo read to see your build through fit, posture and proportion—not a body-composition, medical or scientific assessment.
Sources
- Sagoe D et al. (2014). The global epidemiology of anabolic-androgenic steroid use: a meta-analysis and meta-regression analysis. Annals of Epidemiology. Linked source
- Sagoe D and Pallesen S. (2018). Androgen abuse epidemiology. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity. Linked source
- Kanayama G and Pope HG. (2018). History and epidemiology of anabolic androgens in athletes and non-athletes. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology. Linked source
- Pope HG et al. (2014). Adverse health consequences of performance-enhancing drugs: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. Endocrine Reviews, 35(3), 341–375. Linked source
- Pope HG et al. (2014). The lifetime prevalence of anabolic-androgenic steroid use and dependence in Americans: current best estimates. American Journal on Addictions. Linked source
- National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d., accessed 2026-09-10). Anabolic Steroids and Other Appearance and Performance Enhancing Drugs. Linked source
- Kanayama G et al. (2007). Anabolic steroid abuse among teenage girls: an illusory problem? Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Linked source
- Skauen JE et al. (2023). Prevalence and correlates of androgen dependence: a meta-analysis, meta-regression analysis and qualitative synthesis. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity. Linked source
- Chegeni R et al. (2023). Systematic reviews and meta-analyses on androgen administration in humans: an umbrella review. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity. Linked source
- Bonnecaze AK et al. (2020). Characteristics and Attitudes of Men Using Anabolic Androgenic Steroids: A Survey of 2385 Men. American Journal of Men’s Health. Linked source
- Ahmadinejad B et al. (2026). Comparing Motivations for Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use Among an International Sample of Men. Substance Use and Misuse. Linked source
- Miech RA et al. (2026). Monitoring the Future National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975–2025: Overview and detailed results for secondary school students. University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Linked source
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d., data 1991–2013). Trends in the Prevalence of Marijuana, Cocaine, and Other Illegal Drug Use: National YRBS, 1991–2013. Linked source
- Schneider KE et al. (2020). Adolescent Anabolic-Androgenic Steroid Use in Association with Other Drug Use, Injection Drug Use, and Team Sport Participation. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse. Linked source
- Jampel JD et al. (2016). Self-Perceived Weight and Anabolic Steroid Misuse Among US Adolescent Boys. Journal of Adolescent Health. Linked source
- Office for National Statistics. (2025). Drug misuse in England and Wales: appendix tables, year ending March 2025. Linked source
- Windfeld-Mathiasen J et al. (2024). Mortality Among Users of Anabolic Steroids. JAMA. Linked source
- Windfeld-Mathiasen J et al. (2025). Cardiovascular Disease in Anabolic Androgenic Steroid Users. Circulation. Linked source
- Windfeld-Mathiasen J et al. (2022). Psychiatric morbidity among men using anabolic steroids. Depression and Anxiety. Linked source
- Horwitz H et al. (2019). Health consequences of androgenic anabolic steroid use. Journal of Internal Medicine. Linked source
- Heerfordt IM et al. (2025). Excessive androgen exposure and risk of malignancies: A cohort study. Andrology. Linked source
- Vasireddi N et al. (2025). Athlete Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators Abuse: A Systematic Review. American Journal of Sports Medicine. Linked source
- Ganson KT et al. (2026). Social media engagement and anabolic-androgenic steroid use intentions among boys and men in Canada and the United States. Body Image. Linked source
- Drug Enforcement Administration and Office of the Federal Register. (current as of 2026-09-10). 21 CFR § 1308.13 Schedule III. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. Linked source
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. (1990, accessed 2026-09-10). 21 U.S. Code § 802: Definitions. Linked source
- U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2004). Public Law 108-358: Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004. Linked source
Frequently asked questions
How many people use anabolic steroids?
The best-known pooled estimate is 3.3% lifetime use across 187 worldwide studies, but it mixes very different populations and is not a general-population rate. For the context behind that number, see our men’s fitness statistics.
How many gym-goers use steroids?
There is no single representative global percentage for gym-goers. Research consistently finds higher prevalence in recreational sportspeople and nonathlete weightlifters than in general-population samples, while the sampling method changes the result.
Is teen steroid use increasing?
The U.S. Monitoring the Future series shows decline from a 4.0% lifetime peak among 12th graders in 2002 to 1.2% in 2024, while past-year use was 1.1% in 2025. Our gym terms glossary explains why lifetime and past-year figures should not be treated as the same measure.
How many steroid users become dependent?
A 2023 meta-analysis estimated lifetime androgen dependence at 34.4% among people who use anabolic steroids, roughly one in three. That denominator is users, not the general population; how to increase testosterone naturally covers non-drug alternatives.
Are anabolic steroids legal in the United States?
Under U.S. federal regulations, anabolic steroids are listed in Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. Selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, are a separate category; a 2025 review estimated use among athletes at 1% to 3%.