Reported numbers of patients with rare diseases based on ten-year longitudinal national disability registries in Taiwan

► To describe a general demographic picture of patients with rare diseases and the prevalence of rare diseases over time, age and gender distributions. ► The prevalence of rare diseases increased from 0.02 to 0.74 per 10,000 people in this time period. ► The occurrence of rare diseases was significantly increased in children 3-5 years of age and elementary school children 6-14 years of age.