Introduction: Idiopathic membranous nephropathy(IMN)has become a public health challenge in the world.Many cross sectional surveys provided the prevalence of IMN in individual countries.However,the data reflecting the influence of socioeconomic status on prevalence of IMN were rare.The aim of the study is to determine the precise relation between IMN incidence and socioeconomic development at globle level.Methods: MEDLINE were searched(until April 2015)to identify population-based studies that reported prevalence of IMN.The Human Development Index(HDI)was used to measure the socioeconomic status of each country.Results: The global prevalence of IMN was 12.0%(inter-quartile range,8.3-20.2%).There was no correlation between the prevalence of IMN of individual countries and their HDI at global level(r =-0.006,P =0.955).However,a positive relationship between HDI and IMN incidence were found in developed countries(r =0.533,P =0.019),while no relationship was detected in developing countries(r =-0.062,P=0.585).In addition,the prevalence of IMN in developed countries(13%)was slightly higher than in developing countries(12.4%)(P > 0.05).Conclusions: This study is the first time to explore the correlation between the prevalence of idiopathic membranous nephropathy and social development,and the result showed that a higher national socioeconomic status,as measured by HDI,may lead to a higher IMN prevalence in developed countries.