In the present study, the number of disability pensions provided in West Germany between 1953 and 1983 because of peptic ulcer served as a marker of peptic ulcer morbidity. A total of 46,426 cases of disability resulting from peptic ulcer occurred, representing 0.6% of all cases of disability in West Germany during this period. Blue collar workers were affected more often than white collar workers, and men more often than women. The proportion of disability pensions due to peptic ulcer markedly declined between 1953 and 1973. This decline affected both sexes and both blue and white collar workers and was accompanied by a shift of the highest age-specific proportions from the middle to the older age groups. These findings show that the previously observed temporal variations of peptic ulcer disease do not apply only to the mortality but also to the prevalence of peptic ulcer.