Islamabad: More than one billion people worldwide are living with mental health conditions, with women disproportionately affected, anxiety and depression on the rise, suicides claiming hundreds of thousands of lives every year, and an estimated US$1 trillion lost annually to the global economy, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned in a major new report.
The latest findings, released in World Mental Health Today and the Mental Health Atlas 2024, paint a stark picture of a crisis that is worsening despite policy progress in some countries. WHO said urgent investment and large-scale reforms are needed to expand access, tackle stigma, and treat mental health as a basic human right.
“Mental health is one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “Investing in mental health means investing in people, communities and economies. Every government has a responsibility to act with urgency and ensure care is not a privilege but a right for all.”
The data shows anxiety and depression remain the most common disorders, particularly among women, and are among the leading causes of long-term disability worldwide. Suicide continues to devastate communities, with an estimated 727,000 deaths in 2021, making it a top cause of mortality among young people. On current trends, the world is far off track to achieve the UN target of a one-third reduction in suicide rates by 2030, with only a 12 percent decline projected.
The economic burden is staggering. Beyond the direct healthcare costs, lost productivity due to depression and anxiety is costing the global economy nearly US$1 trillion annually, WHO noted.
Despite these realities, government spending on mental health has stagnated at a median of just 2 percent of total health budgets since 2017. While high-income countries spend up to US$65 per person, low-income nations allocate as little as US$0.04. Workforce shortages remain critical, with only 13 mental health workers per 100,000 people globally and extreme deficits in developing countries.
The reports show that fewer than 10 percent of countries have fully transitioned to community-based mental health care, and psychiatric hospitals continue to dominate, with nearly half of all admissions involuntary and more than 20 percent lasting over a year. Integration of mental health into primary care is advancing, with 71 percent of countries meeting at least three WHO criteria, but service coverage remains patchy, especially in poorer regions.
There are encouraging signs: school-based programmes, early childhood initiatives and suicide prevention campaigns are being scaled up in many countries. Over 80 percent of nations now include mental health and psychosocial support in emergency responses, compared with just 39 percent in 2020. Outpatient and telehealth services are growing, though access remains uneven.
Still, WHO cautioned that the world remains far off track to meet the targets set in its Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan. It called on governments to prioritize rights-based laws, increase investment, strengthen the workforce and shift to person-centered community care.
“The cost of inaction is measured not just in dollars, but in lives lost and communities broken,” Dr. Tedros said. “The world cannot afford to ignore mental health any longer.”
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