Dementia costs Europe £165 billion a year

Oxford University researchers have estimated that the cost of dementia across 15 western European countries totalled £165 billion in 2007. Most of the cost was due to the care provided by families and friends, which accounted for over two-thirds of the total, or £112 billion. Over a quarter of the costs were down to social care, predominantly in residential and nursing homes, while costs to countries' healthcare systems made up just 5% of the total burden. The remaining 1% was down to lost earnings due to illness and premature death. Health and social care costs in the UK in 2007 were the third highest, per dementia patient, after Luxembourg and Sweden. Care for each UK dementia patient cost £13,200, after adjusting for price differentials between countries. The average across the 15 countries studied was £8,623, though it varied widely between individual nations.