The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases

The report argues that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) pose a staggering threat to global economic growth, with projected losses reaching trillions of dollars by 2030. Using cost-of-illness, macroeconomic simulation (EPIC), and value of statistical life (VSL) approaches, the authors demonstrate that while high-income countries currently bear the highest absolute costs, the burden is shifting rapidly toward middle-income countries. Cardiovascular diseases and mental health conditions are identified as the primary drivers of economic loss. The report emphasizes that these burdens can be mitigated through cost-effective 'Best Buy' interventions focusing on tobacco, alcohol, diet, and physical activity.

• NCDs are the leading cause of death globally, accounting for 63% of all deaths, with 80% of these occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
• Macroeconomic simulations using the EPIC tool project a cumulative output loss of nearly US$ 47 trillion between 2011 and 2030 for the four major NCDs and mental health conditions, which is approximately 75% of the 2010 global GDP.
• Cardiovascular diseases and mental health conditions are the most significant contributors to the global economic burden of NCDs across different measurement models.
• The economic burden is shifting geographically; while high-income countries currently shoulder the most cost, upper-middle-income countries are expected to assume a much larger share by 2030 due to population growth and ageing.
• Mental health conditions alone are projected to have a massive economic impact, with cost-of-illness estimates rising from US$ 2.5 trillion in 2010 to US$ 6.0 trillion by 2030.
• Business leaders view NCDs as a major threat to competitiveness; approximately half of surveyed executives worry that at least one NCD will negatively impact their company's bottom line within five years.
• The Value of Statistical Life (VSL) approach estimates the economic burden of life lost to all NCDs will double between 2010 and 2030, ranging from US$ 22.8 trillion to US$ 43.4 trillion.
• Prevention is highly cost-effective; WHO 'Best Buys' for reducing tobacco, harmful alcohol, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity are estimated to cost less than US$ 0.40 per person per year in low- and middle-income countries.
• Cancer costs are dominated by medical expenditures, which accounted for US$ 154 billion of the US$ 290 billion total cost for new cases in 2010.

APA

D.E., B., E.T., C., E., J.-L., S., A.-G., L.R., B., S., F., A.B., F., T., G., M., M., A., P., K., P., L., R., B., S., A.Z., S., & C., W. (2011). The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases. World Economic Forum. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Harvard_HE_GlobalEconomicBurdenNonCommunicableDiseases_2011.pdf

Chicago

D.E., Bloom,, Cafiero, E.T., Jané-Llopis, E., Abrahams-Gessel, S., Bloom, L.R., Fathima, S., Feigl, A.B., et al. The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases. World Economic Forum, 2011. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Harvard_HE_GlobalEconomicBurdenNonCommunicableDiseases_2011.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{de2011global, author = {D.E., Bloom, and E.T., Cafiero, and E., Jané-Llopis, and S., Abrahams-Gessel, and L.R., Bloom, and S., Fathima, and A.B., Feigl, and T., Gaziano, and M., Mowafi, and A., Pandya, and K., Prettner, and L., Rosenberg, and B., Seligman, and A.Z., Stein, and C., Weinstein,}, title = {{The Global Economic Burden of Non-communicable Diseases}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2011}, month = sep, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Harvard_HE_GlobalEconomicBurdenNonCommunicableDiseases_2011.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }