This study evaluates the prevalence of depression in communities from 30 countries between 1994 and 2014, using data from 90 studies involving 1,112,573 adults. The aggregate point prevalence of depression was 12.9%, one-year prevalence was 7.2%, and lifetime prevalence was 10.8%. Point prevalence was significantly higher in women (14.4%), countries with a medium human development index (HDI) (29.2%), studies published from 2004 to 2014 (15.4%), and when using self-reporting instruments (17.3%). Meta-regression identified response rate, proportion of women, and year of publication as significant moderators of heterogeneity. The study highlights the importance of benchmarking depression prevalence during the era of online health information and suggests that a combination of self-reporting and diagnostic interviews may be more effective for screening and identifying depressive cases.This study evaluates the prevalence of depression in communities from 30 countries between 1994 and 2014, using data from 90 studies involving 1,112,573 adults. The aggregate point prevalence of depression was 12.9%, one-year prevalence was 7.2%, and lifetime prevalence was 10.8%. Point prevalence was significantly higher in women (14.4%), countries with a medium human development index (HDI) (29.2%), studies published from 2004 to 2014 (15.4%), and when using self-reporting instruments (17.3%). Meta-regression identified response rate, proportion of women, and year of publication as significant moderators of heterogeneity. The study highlights the importance of benchmarking depression prevalence during the era of online health information and suggests that a combination of self-reporting and diagnostic interviews may be more effective for screening and identifying depressive cases.