The $12 Trillion Cost of Depression
Depression causes fewer deaths than cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but its burden of illness is just as significant, making it a major health and economic concern.1
About 322 million people were living with depression in 2023.2 Unlike most major illnesses, depression often emerges in the teenage years or early adulthood, right when people are starting school or their career, and it can continue for decades. By comparison, most serious physical illnesses tend to develop later in life and simply don’t have as much time to build up effects.
Since depression’s symptoms hit people’s ability to work so directly, a new study in Nature Medicine tried to put a dollar figure on what that adds up to. The study forecasts that depression will cost the global economy $12 trillion between 2025 and 2050. If suicide deaths linked to depression are included, the cost climbs to $14 trillion.1
Most of the cost isn’t treatment, it’s lost work
For occupational health providers, the big takeaway is that treatment isn’t where most of this cost comes from; it is people leaving the workforce. Symptoms like low energy, poor concentration, and lack of motivation tend to push people out of their jobs well before the depression itself gets labeled “severe.” So most of that $12 trillion is really just work that didn’t happen and wages that were never earned.1
Every $1 spent on treatment brings back $4
Getting people into effective treatment early is the main way to bring these numbers down. The study cites other research showing that every $1 spent expanding depression treatment generates about $4 in health and productivity gains, meaning treating depression is a lot cheaper than not treating it.3 Practically, that means proven therapies need to be easier and cheaper to access, and mental health care needs to be built into primary care rather than sitting off to the side. Either way, the goal is the same: to get people help before it costs them their job.
Where at-home treatment like tDCS fits in
Making treatment more accessible also means offering choices beyond medication and regular clinic visits. Some people want non-drug options, and others cannot tolerate antidepressants, or they experience insufficient relief from pharmacotherapy alone. Many alternative treatments still require going to a clinic, which can be a barrier for some. At-home treatments for depression, like transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) devices such as Sooma’s tDCS, help by offering proven options that fit into work or daily life and make treatment available to more people.
In short, depression is already the leading cause of mental health-related disease burden worldwide and deserves as much attention as other major noncommunicable diseases. As the authors of this study highlight, treatment is affordable when compared to the cost of doing nothing.
- Cao, Z. et al. “Global economic burden of depression in 154 countries from 2025 to 2050.” Nature Medicine, 2026. doi:10.1038/s41591-026-04548-7
- GBD 2023 Disease and Injury and Risk Factor Collaborators. “Burden of 375 diseases and injuries, risk-attributable burden of 88 risk factors, and healthy life expectancy in 204 countries and territories, including 660 subnational locations, 1990-2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.” The Lancet, 406(10513): 1873-1922, 2025. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(25)01637-X
- Chisholm, D. et al. “Scaling-up treatment of depression and anxiety: a global return on investment analysis.” The Lancet Psychiatry, 3(5): 415-424, 2016. doi:10.1016/S2215-0366(16)30024-4
Latest news
New version 1.2.16
Read more
Sooma and Clariane launch multi-country pilot following successful EIC Corporate Partnership Programme
Read more
Active, not just treated: Dr. Ulrike Vogelmann on brain stimulation for depression
Read more