How common is primary high blood pressure?

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is very common. In fact, it affects more than 65 million people in the United States alone and only about 70 percent of those people have actually been diagnosed. Of those who have high blood pressure, about 90 percent have primary high blood pressure easily making it the most common type of hypertension in the world. It is also more common in older people, African Americans and people who are obese.