The health of nations: Stronger health, stronger economies

Poor health imposes a heavy human and economic toll. Scaling proven interventions could add nine healthy years to life and deliver $12.5 trillion in global economic gains by 2050.

At a glance

• The world faces a choice: By 2050, the average person could spend three more years in poor health than in 2000 or gain nearly a decade of healthy life if society scales access to proven, cost-effective interventions.
• Nearly two-thirds of this impact would come from preventive interventions. Today, most countries spend less than 2 percent of their health budgets on prevention.
• Scaling proven interventions could create $12.5 trillion in annual economic value by 2050, equal to about 7 percent of global GDP, with an estimated fourfold return on investment.