Economic costs

If malnutrition were to be eliminated, the GDP of a developing country could grow by 41% in ten years.

The burden of disease and death as a result of malnutrition ways heavy on economies and societies. The costs of health care to deal with the consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be as much as 2 to 3% of the GDP of a country. The costs of lost productivity has been estimated at US$ 8 billion per year, or up to 3% of GDP for some countries.

The cost of food fortification to reduce widespread malnutrition can be as low as a few cents per individual per year for adding iodine to salt, and up to 25 cents for more complex vitamins and minerals. Yet the benefits far outweigh those costs: depending on the type of vitamin or mineral, the benefits can be 7 to 176 times higher than the cost.

That is why the World Bank and the Copenhagen consensus both list tackling vitamin and mineral deficiencies as the second best investments to promote wellbeing in and the development of the poorest countries.