World Obesity and RTI International developed a model to estimate the economic impact of overweight and obesity from a societal perspective. This report provides estimates of the current (2019 data) and future (2020 through to 2060) economic impact of overweight and obesity from 28 obesity-related diseases, for 161 countries.

Report summary findings: If current trends continue, using data from 161 countries, it is anticipated that by 2060 the economic impacts from overweight and obesity are projected to rise to > 3% of GDP globally. The biggest increase will be concentrated in lower-resource countries with total economic impacts increasing by 4-fold between 2019 and 2060 in high-income countries, whereas they increase 12-25 times in low and middle-income countries. Reducing projected overweight and obesity prevalence by 5% annually from current trends or keeping it at 2019 levels will translate into savings of US$430 billion or US$2.2 trillion in costs respectively every year between 2020 and 2060 globally.

Explore our findings in more detail here.

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Pilot Study: The Economic Impact of Overweight and Obesity in 8 Countries. Summary report

In this report, we summarise the findings and implications of our work on the economic impact of overweight and obesity in Australia, Brazil, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, and Thailand.

Based on work published in BMJ Global Health, we consider the headline findings, amplify the views of people with lived experience and give our policy recommendations. We call for the use of the ‘ROOTS’ framework to create a healthier future for us all.

Filename: Economic-impact-overweight-obesity-in-countries-final.pdf | File size: 6672KB

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