Ferritin test: normal range, low ferritin and what high levels mean

A ferritin test measures the protein that stores iron, and it is the closest single blood measure of how much iron your body holds in reserve. On one widely used reference, the ferritin normal range is 30 to 400 µg/L for men and 13 to 150 µg/L for women, but the bottom of a lab's range is not where doctors start to think about low iron. Low ferritin usually points to depleted stores; high ferritin has several possible causes.

What ferritin measures

Ferritin is a protein that binds iron and keeps it in storage, much of it in the liver, with a small amount circulating in the blood. When there is no inflammation, the blood level rises and falls with the size of the body's iron stores, which is why WHO calls ferritin a good marker of iron stores. Ferritin is also an acute-phase protein: it goes up with infection, inflammation, liver disease, kidney disease and some cancers, whatever the stores are doing.

Ferritin normal range

Ferritin is reported in µg/L or ng/mL, which give the same number. Ranges differ between laboratories, methods, ages and sexes, and the range on your own report is the one to read your result against. Two published examples for adults:

A range is not a cut-off

A reference range describes where most people tested by a laboratory fall, and in many populations some of them are short of iron, so a lab's lower limit can sit below the levels guidelines use for iron deficiency.

• WHO uses a ferritin below 15 µg/L to indicate iron deficiency in otherwise healthy adults, and below 70 µg/L in adults with infection or inflammation.
• The British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) treats below 15 µg/L as absent iron stores and below 30 µg/L as generally low stores, and notes that 45 µg/L has been suggested as the most balanced cut-off between catching iron deficiency and over-calling it.
• The BSG adds that a ferritin above 150 µg/L is unlikely with absolute iron deficiency, even with inflammation.

A result inside the printed range can still be one a doctor wants to talk about, especially alongside symptoms, heavy periods or a low haemoglobin.

What a low ferritin usually points to

A low ferritin usually means iron stores are depleted because iron is going out faster than it comes in: blood loss, including heavy periods; pregnancy; regular blood donation; a diet low in iron; or poor absorption from the gut.

A doctor will usually look at haemoglobin and the red cell indices next, may add serum iron and transferrin saturation, and then ask why. For men and for women after menopause with iron deficiency anaemia, the BSG recommends investigating the gut and routinely screening for coeliac disease. For iron deficiency without anaemia, it suggests periodic blood count checks rather than invasive tests, unless there are other reasons.

What a high ferritin usually points to

Most people with a raised ferritin do not have haemochromatosis. Ferritin is often raised with fatty liver, excess alcohol, the metabolic syndrome, obesity, inflammation, infection, an overactive thyroid and some cancers, as well as with iron overload from haemochromatosis or repeated transfusions.

WHO says ferritin should not be used alone to judge iron overload, and that a raised result should lead to a search for the cause. The usual next step is transferrin saturation, since a raised saturation alongside a raised ferritin makes iron loading more likely, often with CRP and liver blood tests. As a guide, WHO treats a ferritin above 150 µg/L in menstruating women, or above 200 µg/L in men and in women who no longer menstruate, as a possible sign of risk of iron overload in otherwise healthy people, and above 500 µg/L in people who are unwell.

What moves ferritin

• Sex and age. Ferritin tends to be lower in women of menstruating age, so ranges are split by sex and, at Mayo, by age.
• Illness. Infection, surgery and inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis can raise ferritin.
• Pregnancy. Ferritin typically falls in late pregnancy, and WHO applies its under 15 µg/L cut-off early in pregnancy.
• Blood donation. In a study of 3,096 whole-blood donors in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Libya and Oman, more frequent donation was linked to lower ferritin.
• Iron treatment. Ferritin rises as stores refill, so WHO considers it suitable for following iron interventions.
• Supplements. Biotin (vitamin B7), common in hair, skin and nail supplements, can affect some immunoassays, and Mayo asks for a 12-hour gap between biotin-containing supplements and its ferritin sample.

Preparing for the test

Mayo Clinic Laboratories lists no fasting requirement for ferritin on its own; its preparation note covers biotin. MedlinePlus notes that some providers ask for a 12-hour fast and a morning sample, and if serum iron is drawn at the same time, its own preparation applies. Do not stop or change a medicine or supplement on your own; tell the person taking the sample what you take, and mention any recent infection, surgery or transfusion.

How Clare's panel handles it

Clare's panel includes ferritin, measured by the lab, alongside serum iron and TIBC (also measured) and transferrin saturation and UIBC (calculated by Clare from those two), so ferritin is read with the transport side of the picture. The panel also includes hs-CRP, which helps show whether inflammation might be lifting ferritin.

Why it matters in the UAE

Low ferritin is common in UAE studies of women. Among 394 healthy young Emirati adults of Bedouin Arab origin, 65% of the women had a ferritin below 30 µg/L, and the authors concluded that screening women for iron deficiency is justified. In an Al Ain study within the UAE's mandatory premarital screening, 38% of the women whose ferritin was checked were below 15 µg/L. Because iron deficiency lowers HbA2, the marker used to screen for beta-thalassaemia trait, the authors suggested measuring ferritin routinely in women during that screening.

Reference ranges reflect this. When researchers set ranges in healthy Saudi adults in 2023, the ferritin range for women came out at 4.5 to 143 ng/mL, and the authors noted that Saudi women have low iron stores.

Price

When we read public prices on 11 October 2026, a ferritin test on its own cost from 55 to 90 at 3 UAE providers. VAT was not stated, and home collection can add a fee for a small order.

Related tests

Ferritin is usually read with transferrin saturation, which shows how full the iron transport system is; with hemoglobin, which shows whether low stores have started to affect red cells; and with hs-CRP, which shows whether inflammation is lifting the number. For how these fit into a full panel, see what to expect from a comprehensive blood test in Dubai.

Why ferritin means more over time

A single ferritin is a snapshot. Because it rises as stores refill and falls as they are used, the direction across tests often says more than one number. WHO recommends using the same method each time, and the BSG recommends periodic blood count checks once iron deficiency anaemia has been treated, perhaps every 6 months at the start. Clare is opening in the UAE with a waitlist at clare.health.