OBJECTIVE: The disorder of speech sounds (DSF) is the most prevalent type of communication disorders, which corresponds to 32% of all disorders (Slater, 1992). The objective was to conduct a comprehensive narrative review of studies on the prevalence of DSF in English-speaking countries (USA, UK, Australia, Canada), as well as Brazilian Portuguese speakers. METHODS: The method for systematic and transparent selection of appropriate studies included the search terms («Prevalence», «criteria», «speech and language delay», «disorder», «speech delay», «primary speech and language delay prevalence», «speech impairment prevalence», «speech disorder prevalence») and databases (CINHAL, PubMed, ASHA, Psyinfo, Google Search, Scielo). The number of articles found in the narrative review period (February-March 2012) was 52, 37 were selected, and those who were included in the review were 35 articles. Each article was summarized according to the author(s), year of publication, reported the prevalence, sample size, age of study participants, and the measures used to determine DSF. RESULTS: The results indicate that DSF remains a highly prevalent condition that the variation is even greater for children speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. CONCLUSION: The results of this narrative review are discussed in relation to differences in the definition of DSF, severity and type of change communication studied the nature of the study samples and differences in study methods. Still, will be discussed on the need for future research to examine the prevalence between countries and languages.