The $11.4-trillion disease: How diabetes is quietly bleeding India’s economy

A new global modelling study published in Nature Medicine has found that India faces a staggering $11.4 trillion economic burden from diabetes between 2020 and 2050, second only to the United States and slightly higher than China. In rupee terms, the projected loss is roughly ₹950 lakh crore, or close to three times India’s current annual GDP. The numbers go far beyond hospital bills and insulin costs. They include lost productivity, early deaths, shortened working lives, and most importantly, the hidden economic impact of millions of family members whose own labour participation drops because they must provide long-term care to relatives with diabetes. When this informal caregiving is counted, diabetes emerges as one of the largest economic drains facing modern societies, rivalling even cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.
For India, where more than a quarter of the world’s diabetics now live, the disease is now no longer just a health crisis, it’s also a macro-economic threat.