It is estimated that about a million people in the United States suffer from IBD, and that half of those - 500,000 in case you’re not a mental math whiz - have Crohn’s. The other half are people who have Ulcerative Colitis, the second type of IBD.
In parts of Europe, around 0.3 to 0.5% of people are thought to have Crohn’s.
People who smoke are believed to be more likely to get Crohn’s, and there is no noted preference between the number of males or females who contract the disease.
Crohn’s is slightly less common in people of African American heritage and slightly more common in people of Jewish descent.
About 1 in 5 people who have Crohn’s have a close family relative with some other form of IBD or IBS.
Onset of the disease occurs most commonly in people in their 20’s.