Depression is the biggest single cause of ill health and disability globally, according to the World Health Organisation.
It says the numbers suffering from the problem have increased by 18% in the last decade reaching 300 million.
WHO released the figures in advance of World Health Day next week.
It calls for increased spending on treating investment, warning that even in wealthy countries nearly 50% of sufferers do not get treatment.
WHO said that depression increased the risk of substance use disorders, diabetes and heart disease.
WHO director-general Dr Margaret Chan: “These new figures are a wake-up call for all countries to re-think their approaches to mental health and to treat it with the urgency that it deserves.”
Dr Shekhar Saxena, director of WHO’s department of mental health, said: “A better understanding of depression and how it can be treated, while essential, is just the beginning. What needs to follow is sustained scale-up of mental health services accessible to everyone, even the most remote populations in the world.”
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