Fig. 3: Contribution of treatment costs to the economic loss from diabetes mellitus by World Bank region and income group.
The proportion of the total economic burden of diabetes mellitus attributable to direct treatment costs, based on a health-augmented macroeconomic model. Left, regional variation across seven global regions (South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa, East Asia and Pacific, Latin America and Caribbean and North America). North America and Latin America and Caribbean show the highest contributions of treatment costs, while South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa show much lower shares. Right, variation by World Bank income group (low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-income countries). Treatment costs account for 40.5% of the total burden in high-income countries, compared with 14.0% in lower-middle-income countries. Together, these panels highlight structural disparities in healthcare financing, with direct medical expenditures weighing more heavily in wealthier countries, while labor productivity losses and informal caregiving dominate in lower-income settings.
