The study The economic burden of dementia in Europe: COIN-Eu dementia, published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, examines the economic burden of dementia in Europe from a societal perspective. Using a standardised analysis of European cost studies, cross-country estimates were produced for direct costs, costs arising from productivity losses and the costs of informal care, in order to provide a comparable picture of the economic impact of the condition.

For 30 high-income European countries, this results in annual societal costs of around 221.4 billion euros, or an average of 25,218 euros per person with dementia. The importance of informal care provided by family members and other close relatives is particularly evident: at around 58 per cent, it accounts for the largest share of the total costs. 

The findings highlight the considerable social and economic burden posed by dementia and, at the same time, demonstrate how important it is to adequately capture and evaluate informal care in health economic analyses and future care strategies. 

The article is freely available as an open-access publication (link: https://doi.org/10.1177/13872877261465575).