Cost of mental illness statistics worldwide

Updated October 2026

Mental ill-health carries a large economic cost, for people, families, health systems and whole economies. The key figures below show the scale. They come from modelling studies, from joint estimates by the European Union and the OECD, a group of mostly high-income countries ¹, and from Pan American Health Organization data ². Much of it falls outside health care, in lost work, lower earnings and social security spending. GDP, or gross domestic product, is the total value of what a country produces in a year.

Estimates count different things. Some add up money spent on care and benefits; others count lost output, or put a money value on years of healthy life lost. Each figure below names what it counts, so compare only figures that measure the same thing.

Getting help

If something on this page reflects what you are going through, you do not have to manage it alone. Our guide to finding the right therapist explains how to choose someone qualified, and the TherapyRoute directory lists therapists in many countries.

If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, our list of helplines and crisis lines worldwide gives free services by country. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.

The global picture

Global estimates rely on models. The largest figures value the healthy life lost to mental disorders, not money actually spent. Purchasing power parity adjusts dollar figures so that a dollar buys the same amount in each country. A median is the middle value in a list of results put in order from lowest to highest. The eating disorders figure is a median across the studies one review found, not a measure of how serious eating disorders are.

• In Eastern sub-Saharan Africa, the modelled value of health lost to mental disorders could equal about 4% of regional gross domestic product in 2019, the lowest regional share. The model counts early deaths and additional illness the authors attribute to mental disorders. It values each healthy year lost at one year's gross domestic product per person. (modelled estimate, 2019 data) ³
• In high-income North America, the modelled value of health lost to mental disorders could equal about 8% of regional gross domestic product in 2019, the highest regional share. The model counts early deaths and additional illness the authors attribute to mental disorders. It values each healthy year lost at one year's gross domestic product per person. (modelled estimate, 2019 data) ³
• Across cost-of-illness studies worldwide, eating disorders carry the lowest median yearly societal cost per person of any disorder group, at 547 US dollars at purchasing power parity, in the review's base-year prices. (systematic review of studies, published 2020) ⁵

What mental ill-health costs countries

National cost-of-illness estimates add up health care, lost work and other costs. Countries count differently and price their estimates in different years and currencies.

Major depressive disorder is the clinical diagnosis usually meant by depression.

An incremental cost is the extra cost compared with people without the condition.

Absenteeism means time off work; presenteeism means working while unwell and getting less done.

Noncommunicable diseases are long-term illnesses that do not spread between people, such as heart disease and diabetes.

The United States figure per dollar of direct costs uses only the direct costs of major depressive disorder as its base. The other United States figures also count the costs of conditions that come with it, so read the two separately.

If you are thinking about suicide, find a crisis line in your country.

• The OECD and European Union estimated the total costs of mental ill-health across the twenty-eight EU countries at over 600 billion euros. (modelled, published 2018, data year not stated) ¹
• Across the twenty-eight EU countries, the OECD and European Union estimated 190 billion euros of the costs of mental ill-health as direct spending on health care. (modelled, published 2018, data year not stated) ¹
• Across the twenty-eight EU countries, the OECD and European Union estimated 170 billion euros of the costs of mental ill-health as spending on social security programmes. (modelled, published 2018, data year not stated) ¹
• Across the twenty-eight EU countries, the OECD and European Union estimated 240 billion euros of the costs of mental ill-health as indirect costs to the labour market, from lower employment and productivity. (modelled, published 2018, data year not stated) ¹
• In China, mental disorders cost society an estimated 88.8 billion US dollars in 2013, counting direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs, as converted by the authors. (modelled, 2013 data) ⁶
• In China, mental disorders cost society an estimated 21.0 billion US dollars in 2005, counting direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs, as converted by the authors. (modelled, 2005 data) ⁶
• In China, the total cost of mental disorders to society, counting direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs, came to 1.1% of gross domestic product in 2013. (modelled, 2013 data) ⁶
• In China, the total cost of mental disorders to society came to more than 15% of total health expenditure in 2013, counting direct medical, direct non-medical and indirect costs. (modelled, 2013 data) ⁶
• One study estimated the incremental economic burden of adults with major depressive disorder in the United States, including costs of their other conditions, at 326.2 billion US dollars in 2018, valued at 2020 prices. (modelled, 2018 data) ⁷
• One study estimated the incremental economic burden of adults with major depressive disorder in the United States, including costs of their other conditions, at 236.6 billion US dollars in 2010, valued at 2020 prices. (modelled, 2010 data) ⁷
• In the United States, workplace costs made up 61% of the incremental economic burden of adults with major depressive disorder, including costs of their other conditions, in 2018. (modelled, 2018 data) ⁷
• In the United States in 2018, for every dollar of direct costs of major depressive disorder in adults, the disorder added a further 2.30 US dollars in workplace and suicide-related costs. (modelled, 2018 data) ⁷
• Mental health problems and illnesses cost Canada's economy well over 50 billion Canadian dollars a year, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada's estimate for 2016. (modelled estimate, 2016 data) ⁸
• Mental health problems and illnesses cost Canada's economy nearly 1,400 Canadian dollars for every person living in the country in 2016. (modelled estimate, 2016 data) ⁸
• Major depressive disorder among adults aged twenty and over in Japan cost society approximately 11 billion US dollars, converted at purchasing power parity, in 2008, counting medical care, suicide-related losses and workplace costs. (modelled estimate, 2008 data) ⁹
• Workplace costs from absenteeism and presenteeism made up 6912 million US dollars, converted at purchasing power parity, of the yearly cost of major depressive disorder among adults aged twenty and over in Japan in 2008. (modelled estimate, 2008 data) ⁹
• Scaled up from an online panel survey, moderate to severe anxiety and depression symptoms among adults in Saudi Arabia cost an estimated 163.3 billion Saudi riyals a year in 2023. The estimate counts health care and lost work. (survey, modelled estimate, 2023 data) ¹⁰
• The estimated economic burden of moderate to severe anxiety and depression symptoms among adults in Saudi Arabia, scaled up from an online panel survey, equals about 4.1% of national gross domestic product in 2023. (survey, modelled estimate, 2023 data) ¹⁰
• Scaled up from an online panel survey, reduced productivity at work makes up 62.8% of the economic burden of moderate to severe anxiety and depression symptoms among adults in Saudi Arabia in 2023. (survey, modelled estimate, 2023 data) ¹⁰
• Among patients with major depressive disorder at reference psychiatric hospitals in southern Iran, the yearly cost per patient was 2717.41 in purchasing-power-parity US dollars in 2020, counting medical, non-medical and productivity costs. (survey, at one point in time, 2020 data) ¹¹
• Scaling up hospital-based costs to the whole population of Iran, Keshavarz and colleagues estimate the economic burden of major depressive disorder there at 7,120,456,596 US dollars at purchasing power parity for 2020. (modelled estimate, 2020 data) ¹¹
• In Australia, the Productivity Commission estimated a cost of around 150 billion Australian dollars a year from diminished health and reduced life expectancy linked to mental ill-health and suicide. This values lost health and life, not money spent. (Productivity Commission estimate, published 2021, data year not stated) ¹²
• Bloom and colleagues project that mental health conditions cause 20.9% of the economic output Peru loses to noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions over 2015-2030. (modelled estimate, 2015-2030 data) ¹³

What governments spend on mental health

Spending on mental health care is small compared with the burden, especially in lower-income countries, and much of it goes to hospitals rather than community care. In the Americas figure, the median country is the middle one in a list of countries put in order. Disease burden means ill health and early death.

If you are thinking about suicide, find a crisis line in your country.

• In South Africa, public spending on mental health came to 615.3 million US dollars in the 2016/17 financial year. (survey, 2016/17 data) ¹⁴
• In South Africa, public spending on mental health made up 5.0% of the total public health budget in the 2016/17 financial year. (survey, 2016/17 data) ¹⁴
• In South Africa, public spending on mental health came to 13.3 US dollars for each person without medical insurance in the 2016/17 financial year. (survey, 2016/17 data) ¹⁴
• In South Africa, inpatient care made up 86% of public spending on mental health care in the 2016/17 financial year. (survey, 2016/17 data) ¹⁴
• In South Africa, readmissions of mental health inpatients within three months of discharge cost the public health system an estimated 112 million US dollars in the 2016/17 financial year. (survey, 2016/17 data) ¹⁴
• Suriname reported allocating 8.6% of government health spending to mental health services, the highest share in the Americas, in Pan American Health Organization data from 2009 to 2015. (administrative records, latest year reported by each country, 2009-2015 data) ²
• Across countries of the Americas, the median country's share of disease burden from mental, neurological and substance use conditions and suicide is 6.1 times the share of its health budget spent on mental health. (administrative records, latest year reported by each country, 2009-2015 data) ²
• In Canada, estimated public and private spending on mental health care other than dementia care represented approximately 7.2% of total health spending in 2015. (modelled, at one point in time, 2015 data) ⁸
• In Colombia's contributory health scheme, treated adolescents and young adults aged twelve to twenty-six had the highest per-patient mental health spending of any age group over 2013-2022: 312 US dollars at purchasing power parity. (2013-2022 data) ¹⁵

Work and social security

Social security systems carry part of the cost through sick leave and disability benefits.

• In Brazil, 284,292 people were receiving permanent disability retirement from the public social security system because of a mental health condition in 2020. (administrative records, at one point in time, 2020 data) ¹⁶
• Mental illness accounts for about 8% of all temporary sick-leave benefits paid by Brazil's public social security system, as of 2020. (administrative records, at one point in time, 2020 data) ¹⁶

The case for investing in care

Models of scaled-up treatment for depression and anxiety find returns larger than the cost, from better health and from people able to work. A net present value adds up future amounts at what they are worth today.

• A model of 36 countries projected that scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety would need 147 billion US dollars, as a net present value. (modelled, 2016-2030 data) ⁴
• A model of thirty-six countries projected productivity gains of 230 billion US dollars, as a net present value, from scaling up treatment for depression. (modelled, 2016-2030 data) ⁴
• A model of thirty-six countries projected productivity gains of 169 billion US dollars, as a net present value, from scaling up treatment for anxiety disorders. (modelled, 2016-2030 data) ⁴
• In a model of 36 countries in The Lancet Psychiatry, the projected benefits of scaling up depression and anxiety treatment were at least 3.3 times its cost in every income group, counting health returns. (modelled, 2016-2030 data) ⁴
• A model of 36 countries projected that scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety would add 43 million extra years of healthy life. (modelled, 2016-2030 data) ⁴
• In Australia, the Productivity Commission estimated that its recommended mental health reforms would bring gains of around 21 billion Australian dollars a year, mostly in improved health and quality of life rather than money. (Productivity Commission estimate, published 2021, data year not stated) ¹²
• In Australia, the Productivity Commission estimated that its recommended mental health reforms would cost up to 4.2 billion Australian dollars a year. (Productivity Commission estimate, published 2021, data year not stated) ¹²

How to read these figures

Cost estimates count different things: money spent on care, social security payments, lost output, or a money value placed on healthy life lost. Figures that count different things are not comparable.

Currencies and price years differ. Some estimates convert to US dollars or to international dollars that adjust for purchasing power; others stay in the national currency.

Each figure's label and wording say whether it comes from a model, a projection or a scaled-up hospital or survey sample.

We found no recent total national cost-of-illness estimate for a South American country freely available. The South American figures here are instead Brazil's social security costs, spending in Colombia's contributory health scheme, Suriname's and Bolivia's reported shares of government health spending, and Peru's projected lost output.

Behind every cost figure are people and families living with mental ill-health. The models above find that scaling up treatment for depression and anxiety repays its cost. If you are struggling, talking to a therapist is a practical first step.

Cite this page: TherapyRoute. Cost of mental illness statistics worldwide. https://www.therapyroute.com/article/cost-of-mental-illness-statistics-worldwide-by-therapyroute. Last updated 28 October 2026.

References

1. [1] Health at a Glance: Europe 2018: State of Health in the EU Cycle. OECD and European Union, 22 November 2018 oecd.org.
2. [2] The Burden of Mental Disorders in the Region of the Americas, 2018. Pan American Health Organization, 2018 iris.paho.org.
3. [3] Quantifying the global burden of mental disorders and their economic value. eClinicalMedicine (Arias et al.), 2022 thelancet.com.
4. [4] Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry (Chisholm et al.), 2016 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
5. [5] The cost of mental disorders: a systematic review. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences (Christensen et al.), 2020 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
6. [6] The economic burden of mental disorders in China, 2005-2013: implications for health policy. BMC Psychiatry (Xu et al.), 2016 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
7. [7] The Economic Burden of Adults with Major Depressive Disorder in the United States (2010 and 2018). PharmacoEconomics (Greenberg et al.), 2021 link.springer.com.
8. [8] Strengthening the Case for Investing in Canada's Mental Health System: Economic Considerations. Mental Health Commission of Canada, 2017 mentalhealthcommission.ca.
9. [9] Cost of Depression Among Adults in Japan. The Primary Care Companion to CNS Disorders (Okumura et al.), 2011 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
10. [10] Economic burden of moderate and severe anxiety and depression symptoms among adults in Saudi Arabia: evidence from a cross-sectional web panel survey. BMJ Open (Arulsamy et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
11. [11] Economic burden of major depressive disorder: a case study in Southern Iran. BMC Psychiatry (Keshavarz et al.), 2022 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
12. [12] A brief overview of the mental health inquiry report. Productivity Commission (speech by Commissioner Stephen King), 6 May 2021 pc.gov.au.
13. [13] The economic burden of noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions: results for Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Peru. Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública (Bloom et al.), 2018 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
14. [14] Mental health system costs, resources and constraints in South Africa: a national survey. Health Policy and Planning (Docrat S, Besada D, Cleary S, Daviaud E, Lund C), 23 September 2019 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
15. [15] Mental health spending in Colombia: an analysis of rural and urban areas. Annals of General Psychiatry (Espinosa et al.), 2025 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
16. [16] Mental illnesses and their impact on the Brazilian workforce: an analysis of the cost of sick leave and pensions. Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry (da Silva et al.), 2021 pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.