Blood pressure chart: what is a normal blood pressure, by age

High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms. You can feel completely well while it slowly damages your heart, brain, kidneys and eyes. The only way to find out is to have it measured.

It is common. According to the WHO, about one in three adults in the Philippines has high blood pressure, around 16.8 million people, and until recently only about 19% of them had it under control. Worldwide, the WHO estimates that almost half of adults with high blood pressure do not know they have it.

Knowing your numbers helps you:

• find high blood pressure early, when lifestyle changes work best
• understand a reading from the pharmacy, the barangay health station or a home monitor
• know when a number needs a visit soon, and when it is an emergency
• see whether treatment is working, if you already take maintenance medicine

This guide explains what the numbers mean. For causes, symptoms and treatment, see our high blood pressure guide. To learn how to take a reading yourself, see how to check your blood pressure at home.

A reading is written as two numbers, such as 118/76. The unit is mmHg (millimetres of mercury). Find your reading below. If the top and bottom numbers fall in different rows, the higher row is the one that counts.

• Low: below 90/60. Often harmless. It matters if you feel dizzy, weak or faint (see low blood pressure).
• Normal: below 120/80. This is the healthy range for adults.
• Higher than ideal: 120/80 to 139/89. Not yet high blood pressure under WHO guidance, but a sign to cut down on salt, move more and get checked again.
• High blood pressure (hypertension): 140/90 or higher, measured by a health worker on two different days.
• Dangerously high: 180/120 or higher. Sit quietly for a few minutes and measure again. See when to get help now if it stays that high or you feel unwell.

At home, the line for high is lower: an average of 135/85 or more. The section on home and clinic readings explains why.

You may see charts from the United States that label 130/80 "stage 1 hypertension". They use stricter categories. WHO and UK guidance use 140/90 as the line for a diagnosis, but a reading in the 130s is still worth taking seriously.

A blood pressure check takes a couple of minutes and does not hurt.

1. You sit down, rest your arm on a table and roll up your sleeve.
2. A cuff is wrapped around your upper arm and filled with air. It squeezes for a few seconds, then slowly lets go.
3. The machine, or the nurse with a stethoscope, reads the two numbers.
4. If the first reading is high, the health worker usually takes a second reading a little later. A third may be taken if the first two are very different.

What you are doing and how you feel can change a reading for a while. Tell the nurse if you just rushed in or feel nervous: it helps them decide whether to measure again after you rest.

If your pulse is irregular, an automatic machine may not read correctly, and a health worker may measure it by hand. If your doctor needs more readings, you may be asked to measure at home for several days, or to wear a monitor for 24 hours.

The top number (systolic) is the highest pressure in your arteries, when the heart pumps. The bottom number (diastolic) is the lowest pressure, when the heart rests between beats.

Both numbers matter. High blood pressure is diagnosed when the top number is 140 or more, or the bottom number is 90 or more, or both. A reading of 145/78 counts as high, and so does 132/92.

Some examples:

• 110/70: normal.
• 126/82: higher than ideal. Not a diagnosis, but a reason to check again within the year and work on salt and exercise.
• 138/88: still under 140/90, close to the line. Get it checked again soon.
• 150/95 at the clinic: high. Your doctor will usually want readings on another day, or home readings, before deciding.
• 185/115: the top number alone is dangerously high. Rest and measure again.

One reading is not a diagnosis. Blood pressure changes through the day and with what you are doing and feeling. Doctors look at several readings on different days. Write your readings down with the date and time, and bring them to your check-up.

Readings taken at home in a calm setting are usually a little lower than readings at a clinic. That is why the cut-offs are different:

• At a clinic or health center: 140/90 or higher on two days counts as high.
• At home: an average of 135/85 or higher over several days counts as high.

White-coat effect. Some people's blood pressure goes up only at the clinic, from nerves or a long wait. UK guidance calls it a white-coat effect when clinic readings are more than 20 points higher (top number), or 10 points higher (bottom number), than the home or 24-hour average.

Masked high blood pressure is the opposite: normal at the clinic but high at home or at work. Home readings can catch both.

If you measure at home, use a validated monitor (one tested for accuracy), sit quietly with your arm supported, and take two readings at least a minute apart, in the morning and in the evening. Our home blood pressure guide shows each step. Bring your monitor to your health center once so a nurse can compare it with theirs.

For adults, the chart is the same at every age. A normal blood pressure is below 120/80 whether you are 25 or 75. What changes with age is how common high blood pressure becomes, and the target your doctor sets if you are treated.

Adults over 60. Arteries get stiffer with age, so blood pressure tends to rise, even in people with healthy habits. In older adults the top number is often high while the bottom number is normal, for example 150/75. This is called isolated systolic hypertension. It is the most common kind of high blood pressure in older people and still needs care. It can also come with lightheadedness when standing up too fast, and with falls.

People 80 and older. If they are treated, doctors may aim for a slightly higher target than for younger adults. UK guidance, for example, aims for a clinic reading below 150/90 at 80 and over, compared with below 140/90 under 80. This is a treatment target, not a new "normal", and your doctor will decide yours.

Children and teenagers. There is no single number for children. A child's reading is compared with readings of healthy children of the same age, sex and height, using charts. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises a blood pressure check every year from age 3, and earlier for babies born early or very small, and for children with heart disease or other long-term conditions. High blood pressure in children rarely causes symptoms. By the teenage years, most of it is linked to excess weight.

A reading below 90/60 is low blood pressure (hypotension). Many healthy, active people have low readings and feel fine. That needs no treatment.

Low blood pressure matters when it causes symptoms, such as:

• lightheadedness or dizziness
• feeling sick
• blurred vision
• feeling weak or confused
• fainting

Dizziness when you stand up can be a sign of postural hypotension, a drop in blood pressure on standing. A health worker can check by measuring you sitting or lying, then again after you have stood for a minute. A drop of 20 or more in the top number, or 10 or more in the bottom number, confirms it.

Possible causes include not drinking enough water, blood loss, pregnancy, conditions such as diabetes, and some medicines, including blood pressure medicines.

To ease mild symptoms:

• Get up slowly: from lying to sitting, then to standing.
• Drink more water.
• Eat small meals more often.
• Avoid sitting or standing for a long time, bending down suddenly, and drinking a lot of alcohol.

If you take blood pressure medicine and keep feeling dizzy, don't stop it on your own. Ask your doctor; the medicine or the amount may need to change.

Blood pressure is checked at every prenatal visit because high blood pressure in pregnancy can harm both mother and baby.

• 140/90 or higher counts as high blood pressure in pregnancy.
• Above 160/110 is severe and needs care in hospital.
• New high blood pressure after 20 weeks, especially with protein in the urine, can be a sign of pre-eclampsia, a serious condition.

Regular checks find a rise early. Go to the hospital straight away if you are pregnant or recently gave birth and have a severe headache, blurred vision or flashing lights, severe pain just below the ribs, vomiting, or sudden swelling of the face, hands or feet.

If you already had high blood pressure before pregnancy, tell your midwife or doctor early. See our prenatal check-up guide for what each visit includes.

When you are treated for high blood pressure, your doctor gives you a target: the number your readings should stay below.

The WHO says that for most people the goal is below 140/90, and below 130/80 for people who have:

• heart disease or a past stroke
• diabetes
• chronic kidney disease
• a high risk of heart disease

Your doctor may set a different target based on your age, other illnesses and how you feel on treatment. Ask what your number is and write it in your blood pressure log.

Never change, skip or stop your medicine because of one reading, high or low. Write it down and talk to your doctor. When readings on medicine look normal, it usually means the medicine is working, not that you can stop it. For treatment and free maintenance medicines, see our high blood pressure guide.

You don't need to buy a monitor to know your numbers.

• Barangay health station (BHS) or rural health unit (RHU): a nurse, midwife or barangay health worker can check your blood pressure. Many RHUs and city health centers are also YAKAP clinics.
• PhilHealth YAKAP clinic: blood pressure is part of the basic health information your clinic records at your first patient encounter. As of July 2025, PhilHealth says YAKAP services are free at accredited clinics. A private YAKAP clinic may charge up to ₱900 a year. If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, your YAKAP doctor can prescribe medicines from accredited pharmacies up to ₱20,000 a year. See our PhilHealth YAKAP guide.

In Western Visayas and Cagayan Valley, the DOH's Healthy Hearts Philippines programme, supported by the WHO, uses validated blood pressure devices and a registry to follow patients between visits.

Your yearly check-up is a good time to get your numbers. Use Find care to look up a health center near you, or ask our blood pressure assistant to help you make sense of a reading.