Uk’s obesity and overweight epidemic costs £126bn a year, study suggests
The cost of the UK’s epidemic of overweight and obesity has soared to £126bn a year, a figure that far exceeds previous estimates and has prompted experts to call for urgent government action. This new estimate, calculated by Frontier Economics for the Nesta thinktank, includes the costs of NHS care (£12.6bn), years spent in poor health due to excess weight (£71.4bn), and the economic damage caused by reduced productivity (£31bn).
Campaigners are urging ministers to take more robust measures to tackle obesity, such as extending the sugar tax beyond fizzy drinks to a wider range of sweet foods and beverages. Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of the Leon restaurant chain and author of a government-commissioned report on the food system, described the situation as a collapse, stating that the food system is “poisoning our population and bankrupting the state”.
Frontier’s analysis found that 64% of people in Britain are overweight or obese, costing the economy £31bn—a sum equivalent to a 3p cut in income tax and more than the annual spend on policing across the UK. Tim Leunig, Nesta’s chief economist, highlighted that obesity rates have doubled since the 1990s, leading to serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes and cancer. He noted that obesity reduces workplace effectiveness, increases absenteeism, and forces some people to leave the workforce entirely due to ill health.
The government faces the challenge of addressing the 2.8 million people in the UK who are economically inactive due to illness, a figure that has risen by 700,000 since the onset of Covid, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Previous estimates by Frontier Economics put the annual cost of obesity at £58bn in 2022, rising to £98bn in 2023. The latest figure of £126bn is higher because, for the first time, it includes the costs associated with being overweight as well as obese.Kawther Hashem, head of research at Action on Sugar, described the annual cost as staggering and called for compulsory targets and financial penalties for food companies to reduce salt and sugar in their products, citing the failure of voluntary industry action.
Nesta’s breakdown of the annual economic costs of overweight and obesity includes:
- £71.4bn for reduced quality of life and mortality
- £12.6bn for NHS treatment
- £12.1bn from unemployment due to excess weight
- £10.5bn for informal care
- £9.7bn for lower productivity among those still working
- £8.3bn for sick days due to weight-related illness
- £1.2bn for formal care
- £700m for lost output due to early death
Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, has called for the sugar tax to be extended to more products and for limits on sugar in baby and toddler foods. Leunig has also advocated for restrictions on unhealthy food advertising, improved front-of-pack labelling, and increased funding for weight-loss drugs.
Nesta’s report warns that the costs of excess weight are set to keep rising, potentially reaching £150bn by 2035 if no decisive action is taken. Productivity losses alone could account for £36.3bn a year, an 18% increase over the next decade in real terms.The report stresses that without a significant policy shift, the impact of obesity on productivity and public finances will continue to grow.
The editorial unit
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