Musculoskeletal conditions have an enormous and growing impact worldwide, yet they are not considered a priority by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their global strategy for chronic diseases, and few national health-care priorities include them. To try to address this imbalance, governments and professional and patients’ organisations declared 2000–10 the ‘Bone and Joint Decade’ with the endorsement of the United Nations, the WHO and over 60 governments. However, much still remains to be done, as there have not been great changes in health priorities despite the predicted increase in people affected by these conditions. Identifying the burden of these often chronic and progressive conditions is important to establish the health needs with the aim of implementing policies to improve the health-related quality of life of people with musculoskeletal conditions. This issue is the result of work undertaken for the revision of estimates of the global burden of musculoskeletal conditions. It aims to be a resource providing the latest data that can support the development of health policies and priorities. It will be evident that the greatest impact is on those living with physical disability, as these conditions seldom shorten life. This means that measures of population health must look at both mortality and morbidity when estimating the burden of musculoskeletal conditions and even then they may not fully reflect the impact on individuals and society. The loss of independence and the ability to work and the costs to society through the direct and indirect costs of their care also need to be considered. We hope that this comprehensive update on the epidemiology of these conditions will be of value.