Ferritin test: normal levels
and what low ferritin means.
A ferritin test shows how much iron your body has saved up. It is often the first number to drop, months before haemoglobin. Here is what a normal ferritin level looks like for women, men and pregnancy, why the cut-off changed in 2026, what low ferritin feels like, what causes it, and how to refill your stores safely.
This guide is for education. Ferritin results are read by a doctor, together with your symptoms and other tests. Treatment doses are set by a doctor.
What a ferritin test measures
What is a ferritin test?
A ferritin test is a blood test that measures ferritin, the protein that stores iron inside your body. When you are well, the amount of ferritin in your blood rises and falls with your iron stores. That makes it the best single test for spotting low iron early, before haemoglobin drops.
Think of iron like money. Haemoglobin is the cash you are spending today, carrying oxygen in your red blood cells. Ferritin is your savings account, held mostly in the liver.1 When you lose or miss iron for months, the savings go first. Only when they run out does haemoglobin fall and anaemia appear.
That is why the ferritin test matters. Iron contributes to the normal formation of red blood cells and haemoglobin, normal oxygen transport, normal cognitive function and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue.2 The World Health Organization recommends ferritin as the test for iron deficiency in healthy people.3
Two units are used on Indian lab reports, ng/mL and µg/L. They are the same number: 30 ng/mL is 30 µg/L.
Ferritin normal range, and why labs differ
What is a normal ferritin level?
There is no single ferritin normal range. Most labs print a lower limit between 15 and 30 ng/mL. In 2026, the American Society of Hematology set 30 ng/mL or lower as iron deficiency in adults. WHO treats levels above 150 ng/mL in women and 200 ng/mL in men as higher than expected.
Your report’s “normal” column is the range seen in the lab’s reference population, not a health target. British guidance notes that most labs set the lower limit somewhere between 15 and 30 ng/mL.4 A woman with 18 ng/mL can see no red flag on her report and still have very low stores.
| Ferritin (ng/mL) | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Below 15 | Iron stores are empty; almost certainly iron deficiency3,4 | See a doctor; find the cause |
| 15–30 | Low stores; counts as iron deficiency under the 2026 guideline5 | See a doctor; ask about iron and the cause |
| 31–50 | Borderline; counts as low with heavy periods, symptoms, pregnancy plans, or anaemia in pregnancy5 | Discuss with your doctor if any of these apply |
| Above 50 up to 150 (women) or 200 (men) | Iron deficiency is unlikely if you are well5,3 | Keep eating iron-rich food |
| Above 150 (women) or 200 (men) | Higher than expected; often inflammation, liver or metabolic causes, sometimes iron overload3,1 | Do not take iron; ask your doctor to check why |
These bands are a guide, not a diagnosis. During an infection, after surgery, or with long-term inflammation, ferritin reads higher than your true stores, so the cut-offs move up (see below).3
Normal ferritin levels for women, men, pregnancy and children
What is a normal ferritin level for women?
For women who have periods, the American Society of Hematology’s 2026 guideline treats ferritin of 30 ng/mL or lower as iron deficiency. The cut-off rises to 50 ng/mL for women with heavy periods, symptoms of low iron, or plans to become pregnant. Above these levels, low iron is unlikely.
For years, labs and doctors used 15 ng/mL, the WHO figure for empty stores.3 It is very specific, but it misses many people whose stores are already low. A large US analysis found that the body starts making fewer red cells and calling for more iron at about 25 ng/mL in women and 20 ng/mL in children.6 In 2026, American haematologists moved the adult line to 30.5
| Group | WHO 2020 | American Society of Hematology 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Women who have periods | Below 15 | 30 or lower |
| Heavy periods, symptoms or planning pregnancy | Below 15 | 50 or lower |
| Pregnancy | No single cut-off set | 30 or lower; 50 or lower with anaemia |
| Men and women after menopause | Below 15 | 30 or lower; 50 or lower with symptoms |
| Children 9 months to 4 years | Below 12 (under 5 years) | 20 or lower |
| Adults with infection or inflammation | Below 70 | Below 100, or transferrin saturation under 20% |
Gut specialists use a similar line when looking for a cause: British guidance suggests 45 ng/mL as a balanced cut-off for investigation, and American gut specialists use 45 ng/mL in people with anaemia.4,7 The message is the same everywhere: a ferritin of 20 is not “fine” just because the lab range starts at 13 or 15.
Low ferritin: what it means for your body
What does low ferritin mean?
Low ferritin means your body’s iron stores are running low. It is the earliest stage of iron deficiency and often appears before haemoglobin falls. Low ferritin is not an emergency on its own, but it needs a cause found, because untreated it can lead to iron deficiency anaemia.
Iron deficiency happens in three steps: first the stores (ferritin) drain, then iron for new red cells runs short, and only last does haemoglobin fall into anaemia. In a US survey of over 3,400 girls and young women, 84% of those with low iron stores were not anaemic.8 A normal haemoglobin does not rule out low iron.
In India the gap is large. In a venous-blood survey across eight states, about 28% of adult women had iron deficiency by inflammation-corrected ferritin.9 The national nutrition survey found it in 30% of adolescent girls,10 and an ICMR-reviewed survey in Uttar Pradesh that measured ferritin found 51% of women of reproductive age iron deficient.11
Should I worry about low ferritin?
Worry is the wrong word, but don’t ignore it. Low ferritin is common and fixable. What matters is finding why it is low and refilling the stores before anaemia sets in. In men and in women after menopause, low ferritin should always be checked by a doctor, because blood can be lost quietly from the gut.4,7
Low ferritin symptoms
What are the symptoms of low ferritin?
Common low ferritin symptoms are tiredness that sleep does not fix, hair shedding, restless legs at night, breathlessness on stairs, poor focus, and cravings for ice. Many people with low ferritin have no symptoms at all, which is why a blood test is more reliable than guessing.
- Tiredness. In a trial of 198 tired women with normal haemoglobin and ferritin under 50, those given iron felt more energetic than those given a dummy pill.12 A review of 18 trials found iron eased fatigue in iron-deficient adults without anaemia.13
- Hair shedding. A review of 36 studies found women with non-scarring hair loss had lower ferritin than women without it, especially before menopause.14
- Restless legs. An uncomfortable urge to move the legs at night is linked to low iron. Sleep specialists consider iron when ferritin is 75 ng/mL or lower in people with restless legs, a higher line than for other people.15
- Craving ice or chalk. In 262 adults with low iron, 45% had cravings (called pica), mostly for ice, and they faded after iron treatment.16
- Slower thinking. In young women, low iron was linked to slower and less accurate thinking, which improved as ferritin rose.17
- Breathless or tired on exertion. Stairs, workouts or a brisk walk feel harder, more so once haemoglobin falls.
See all 12 signs of iron deficiency in women, and how fatigue is worked up in our fatigue blood test guide.
What causes low ferritin?
What is the main cause of low ferritin?
In women, the main cause of low ferritin is blood loss from periods, especially heavy ones, often combined with a diet low in well-absorbed iron. In men and women after menopause, the main concern is hidden blood loss from the gut, which always needs a doctor to investigate.
- Heavy periods. About 6 in 10 women with heavy periods have iron deficiency, and it is often missed.18
- Cereal-based vegetarian meals. Indian women absorb only about 8% of the iron in typical cereal-based meals.11
- Chai with meals. Black tea taken with a meal cut plant-iron absorption by 79–94% in a classic study.19
- Pregnancy and growth. The baby, placenta and extra blood all draw on iron, and teenage girls need iron for growth plus periods.11
- Gut conditions. Coeliac disease and H. pylori infection can block iron absorption; guidelines advise testing for them in iron deficiency anaemia.4,7
- Hidden bleeding. Stomach ulcers or, less often, bowel or stomach tumours can leak blood slowly. That is why men and women after menopause with iron deficiency anaemia are usually offered a gut examination.4,7
Low ferritin but normal iron or haemoglobin
What happens if ferritin is low and iron is normal?
Low ferritin with a normal serum iron or haemoglobin usually means early iron deficiency: your stores are low, but your blood has not run short yet. Serum iron changes from hour to hour and after meals, so ferritin is the more reliable sign. Left alone, stores can keep falling until anaemia appears.
A full “iron profile” reports several numbers. Each answers a different question:
| Test | What it shows | Points to low iron |
|---|---|---|
| Ferritin | Your iron stores | 30 ng/mL or lower; 50 or lower with heavy periods, symptoms or pregnancy plans5 |
| Haemoglobin | Oxygen-carrying protein in red cells | Under 12.0 g/dL in women, 13.0 in men (anaemia)4 |
| Red-cell size (MCV) | Whether red cells are smaller than usual | Small cells, once deficiency is advanced |
| Serum iron | Iron in the blood at that moment | Varies through the day; not reliable alone |
| Transferrin saturation (TSAT) | How full the iron transport protein is | Under 20%, useful when inflammation is present5 |
| CRP | Inflammation | If raised, ferritin can look normal even when iron is low3 |
When ferritin looks normal but iron is still low
Ferritin is also an “alarm” protein: it rises with infection, inflammation, liver disease, obesity and heavy alcohol use.1,5 So a ferritin of 60 during a bad cold, or in someone with arthritis, can hide low iron. WHO suggests that ferritin under 70 ng/mL may still mean deficiency when inflammation is present, and the 2026 guideline uses under 100 or a transferrin saturation under 20%.3,5 Ask for a CRP test with your ferritin.
High ferritin: what it usually means
What does high ferritin mean?
High ferritin usually means inflammation, fatty liver, heavy drinking, obesity or another illness, not too much iron. True iron overload is less common. Doctors check transferrin saturation and liver tests to tell them apart. If your ferritin is high, do not take iron supplements until your doctor has found the cause.
WHO treats ferritin above 150 ng/mL in women who have periods and 200 ng/mL in men as higher than expected, but says ferritin should never be used alone to diagnose overload.3 A transferrin saturation above 45% points towards true iron overload; below 45%, overload is generally ruled out.20,21 The inherited form most often discussed online, HFE haemochromatosis, is very rare in people of South Asian ancestry.20
How to prepare for a ferritin test
Do I need to fast for a ferritin test?
Usually not for ferritin alone, but your doctor may ask you to fast if serum iron and transferrin saturation are tested in the same sample. Book a morning test, skip iron supplements for 24 hours before, and test when you are well, not during a fever or infection.
- Book a morning slotIron tests are best taken in the morning.15
- Pause iron supplementsSkip iron tablets and iron-fortified drinks for 24 hours before the test.15
- Test when you are wellFever, infection or a recent operation can push ferritin up and hide low iron.3
- Ask for the right setFerritin with a complete blood count and CRP, plus vitamin B12 and folate if your doctor agrees.
- Note your periodsTell your doctor how heavy your periods are; it changes how your result is read.5
How to increase ferritin levels safely
How can I increase my ferritin levels?
To increase ferritin, first find and fix the cause, such as heavy periods. Eat iron-rich foods with vitamin C, keep chai and coffee away from meals, and take iron only in the dose your doctor advises. Stores refill slowly, so doctors usually recheck after about three months.
- See a doctor firstConfirm low ferritin, check haemoglobin and CRP, and find the cause.
- Eat iron-rich staplesGarden cress seeds (17.2 mg per 100 g), til (15.0 mg), whole masoor (7.6 mg), whole chana (6.8 mg) and bajra (6.4 mg).22
- Add vitamin C to iron mealsLemon, amla, guava or tomato help you absorb plant iron.19
- Move your chaiHave tea and coffee at least an hour away from iron-rich meals and iron tablets.19
- Take iron only as advisedYour doctor sets the dose and the form; treatment doses are higher than daily needs and are taken for a limited time.4
- Keep going after you feel betterDoctors usually continue iron for about three months after haemoglobin returns to normal, to refill the stores.4
- RecheckRepeat ferritin and haemoglobin after about three months, or as your doctor advises.
Which iron is best to increase ferritin?
No single “best” iron suits everyone; the right one is the one you can take every day. Check four things on any label: the elemental iron in mg (not the weight of the iron salt), a dose your doctor has set, a gentle form, and an FSSAI licence number. Ferrous bisglycinate stands out for comfort: in pregnancy trials it caused fewer stomach side effects than other irons, and 25 mg of it worked as well as 50 mg of ferrous sulfate in a Danish trial.23 Read more in our guides to how much iron you need a day and iron-rich foods in India.
You have chest pain, fainting, a racing heart or breathlessness at rest; black or bloody stools or vomiting blood; very heavy periods; or low ferritin as a man or a woman after menopause. Also see a doctor before taking iron if you are pregnant, have a high ferritin, or have haemochromatosis. Keep iron tablets out of children’s reach: an iron overdose is dangerous for children.
Know your ferritin, then fill the real gaps.
Low iron is confirmed by a blood test and treated with your doctor. To see which other nutrients your daily routine may be missing, start with our free check.
Nutrient Gap Finder
Answer a few quick questions about your food, periods, routine and symptoms to see which nutrients you may be running low on, including iron, and which tests to ask your doctor about.
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- The 2026 American Society of Hematology cut-offs are conditional recommendations based mostly on low-certainty evidence. They guide doctors and are not an automatic reason to take iron.5
- The 25 ng/mL figure comes from US survey data and its authors say it needs confirming in other populations, including outside the US.6
- The tiredness trial gave 80 mg of iron a day for 12 weeks, more than the daily need; tiredness also fell in the placebo group.12 The review of 18 trials found no clear gain in measured exercise capacity.13
- The hair-loss review compared ferritin in women with and without hair loss; it did not test iron supplements, and no ferritin level has been proven to stop hair shedding.14
- The restless-legs ferritin line of 75 ng/mL is a consensus figure that has not been tested directly, and several of the trials used iron through a drip.15
- The 84% figure is from US girls and women aged 12 to 21 using ferritin under 25 µg/L. The Indian figures used inflammation-adjusted ferritin; the eight-state survey did not cover the whole country.8,9,10
- The ferrous bisglycinate review pooled trials in pregnant women and children, and the 25 mg trial was in 80 Danish pregnant women.23
Ferritin questions, answered simply.
What is a ferritin test?
What is a normal ferritin level for women?
What is a normal ferritin level for men?
What happens if ferritin is low and iron is normal?
Should I worry about low ferritin?
What to take if ferritin is low but iron is normal?
Can you recover from low ferritin?
How can I increase my ferritin levels?
What is the main cause of low ferritin?
What hurts when ferritin is low?
Why don’t doctors take low ferritin seriously?
What cancers are linked to low ferritin?
What to avoid if ferritin is low?
Which iron is best to increase ferritin?
Can ferritin be low with normal haemoglobin?
What ferritin level causes hair loss?
Is a ferritin of 20 low?
Is a ferritin of 40 good for a woman?
What is a normal ferritin level in pregnancy?
What ferritin level is too high?
Do I need to fast for a ferritin test?
Is ng/mL the same as µg/L for ferritin?
Can ferritin be normal if I have an infection?
Does low ferritin cause restless legs?
Does low ferritin cause tiredness?
How long does it take to raise ferritin?
Which blood tests go with a ferritin test?
Do vegetarians have lower ferritin?
Studies behind this guide
- MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine). Ferritin blood test.
- European Commission. Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods (iron).
- World Health Organization. WHO guideline on use of ferritin concentrations to assess iron status in individuals and populations. Geneva: WHO; 2020 — ferritin below 15 µg/L (5 years and over) and below 12 (under 5) in healthy people; below 70 in adults and 30 in children with infection or inflammation; above 150 (menstruating women) and 200 (men) as risk of overload, never used alone.
- Snook J, Bhala N, Beales ILP, et al. British Society of Gastroenterology guidelines for the management of iron deficiency anaemia in adults. Gut. 2021;70(11):2030–2051.
- Powers JM, Lim MY, Achebe MQ, et al. American Society of Hematology 2026 guidelines for diagnosis of iron deficiency. Blood Advances. 2026. DOI 10.1182/bloodadvances.2025015950
- Mei Z, Addo OY, Jefferds ME, Sharma AJ, Flores-Ayala RC, Brittenham GM. Physiologically based serum ferritin thresholds for iron deficiency in children and non-pregnant women: a US NHANES serial cross-sectional study. Lancet Haematol. 2021;8(8):e572–e582. PMID 34329578
- Ko CW, Siddique SM, Patel A, et al. AGA clinical practice guidelines on the gastrointestinal evaluation of iron deficiency anemia. Gastroenterology. 2020;159(3):1085–1094. DOI 10.1053/j.gastro.2020.06.046
- Weyand AC, Chaitoff A, Freed GL, Sholzberg M, Choi SW, McGann PT. Prevalence of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia in US females aged 12–21 years, 2003–2020. JAMA. 2023;329(24):2191–2193. DOI 10.1001/jama.2023.8020
- Ghosh S, Laxmaiah A, Chandak GR, et al. Anaemia and iron deficiency in India: a venous blood-based survey of adolescents, adults, and the elderly in eight states. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2025. DOI 10.1038/s41430-024-01559-w
- Kulkarni B, Peter R, Ghosh S, et al. Prevalence of iron deficiency and its sociodemographic patterning in Indian children and adolescents: findings from the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey 2016–18. J Nutr. 2021. PMID 34049401
- ICMR-NIN. Nutrient Requirements for Indians, 2020 — iron chapter (8% absorption from cereal-based meals; pregnancy needs; Uttar Pradesh ferritin survey; upper limit 45 mg).
- Vaucher P, Druais PL, Waldvogel S, Favrat B. Effect of iron supplementation on fatigue in nonanemic menstruating women with low ferritin: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ. 2012;184(11):1247–54. DOI 10.1503/cmaj.110950
- Houston BL, Hurrie D, Graham J, et al. Efficacy of iron supplementation on fatigue and physical capacity in non-anaemic iron-deficient adults: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open. 2018;8(4):e019240. PMID 29626044
- Treister-Goltzman Y, Yarza S, Peleg R. Iron deficiency and nonscarring alopecia in women: systematic review and meta-analysis. Skin Appendage Disord. 2022;8(2):83–92. PMID 35415182; Trost LB, Bergfeld WF, Calogeras E. The diagnosis and treatment of iron deficiency and its potential relationship to hair loss. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006;54(5):824–44. PMID 16635664
- Winkelman JW, Berkowski JA, DelRosso LM, et al. Treatment of restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. J Clin Sleep Med. 2025 — iron studies in the morning, no iron for 24 hours before; consider iron at ferritin 75 ng/mL or lower or transferrin saturation under 20%.
- Barton JC, Barton JC, Bertoli LF. Pica associated with iron deficiency or depletion: clinical and laboratory correlates in 262 non-pregnant adult outpatients. BMC Hematol. 2010;10:9. DOI 10.1186/1471-2326-10-9
- Murray-Kolb LE, Beard JL. Iron treatment normalizes cognitive functioning in young women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(3):778–787. DOI 10.1093/ajcn/85.3.778
- Vannuccini S, Jain V, Critchley H, Petraglia F. From menarche to menopause, heavy menstrual bleeding is the underrated compass in reproductive health. Fertil Steril. 2022;118(4):625–636. DOI 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2022.07.021
- Hurrell RF, Reddy M, Cook JD. Inhibition of non-haem iron absorption in man by polyphenolic-containing beverages. Br J Nutr. 1999;81(4):289–95; Siegenberg D, Baynes RD, Bothwell TH, et al. Ascorbic acid prevents the dose-dependent inhibitory effects of polyphenols and phytates on nonheme-iron absorption. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991;53(2):537–41. PMID 1989423
- British Columbia Ministry of Health. Iron overload: diagnosis and management (BC Guidelines). 2021 — transferrin saturation above 45% suggests overload; HFE haemochromatosis very rare in South Asian ancestry.
- Cullis JO, et al. (British Society for Haematology). Investigation and management of a raised serum ferritin. Br J Haematol. 2018;181(3):331–340. PMID 29672840
- Longvah T, Ananthan R, Bhaskarachary K, Venkaiah K. Indian Food Composition Tables 2017. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR); 2017.
- Fischer JAJ, Cherian AM, Bone JN, Karakochuk CD. Systematic review and meta-analysis of 17 randomised trials comparing ferrous bisglycinate with other iron supplements in pregnant women and children. Nutr Rev. 2023;81(8):904–920. PMID 36728680; Milman N, et al. Ferrous bisglycinate 25 mg iron is as effective as ferrous sulfate 50 mg iron in the prophylaxis of iron deficiency and anemia during pregnancy in a randomized trial. J Perinat Med. 2014. PMID 24152889