FAQ

Depending on best or worst case scenarios, by 2050 the expected economic burden due to AMR will account for 1.1-3.8% of the global GDP (World Bank Group, 2017). This tremendous economic impact has been confirmed by the UN Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) on AMR which has compared the situation to the financial crisis of 2008. The economic impact would come mainly from rising health care costs but also secondary impacts on the food/feed production sector, trade and livelihoods, and an increase in poverty and inequality (WHO, 2019).

In 2003, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) broke out in China and presented not only a previously unknown threat to human health, but also a poignant economic burden. A later study which used the outbreak as a frame of reference estimated that the direct output loss in China’s animal husbandry industry would be over 467 billion Yuan at minimum if a full-blown AMR crisis were to break out in the future.

In Europe, the cost is estimated to be around EUR 1.5 billion per year. This covers figure covers both healthcare costs and productivity losses (EC, 2017).