07.01.10. What is the estimated cost of dementia? | New Zealand

07.01.10. What is the estimated cost of dementia? | New Zealand

18 Sep 2022

The Deloitte Dementia Economic Impact report 2016 (Deloitte Access Economics, 2017) details a comprehensive cost analysis of dementia in NZ. Direct health system costs were estimated at NZD$1.1 billlion in 2017, ~75% of which was due to the costs associated with aged care.

Of the NZD$1.1 billion, most of this was covered by the government, with out-of-pocket costs and private insurance accounting for the remaining.

When the wider economic costs of dementia are accounted for, there is an extra NZD$570 million of economic costs in the form of lost productivity (both from the individual with dementia and those leaving work to care for them), informal care costs, and other costs associated with providing care for a person with dementia.

References:

Deloitte Access Economics. (2017). Dementia Economic Impact Report 2016. Available from: https://www2.deloitte.com/nz/en/pages/economics/articles/dementia-economic-impact-report-2016.html.