MRC Report: A preventable crisis

TACKLING THE LONG-TERM IMPACTS OF OBESITY on australians’ health and prosperity

Published: 23 March 2026

Joint Report by the McKell Institute and the Menzies Research Centre

Australia’s obesity epidemic will cost the national economy nearly $90 billion a year within a decade without coordinated policy intervention to address the crisis.

Australia risks a preventable public health and economic crisis unless obesity is addressed as a priority.

The economic cost of obesity is projected to reach $87.7 billion a year by 2032 and $228 billion annually by 2060, with two-thirds of the costs linked to lost productivity, including absenteeism, reduced workplace performance and premature death.

Obesity already costs the economy $39 billion annually [and $320 million per year in unnecessary hospitalisations].

Its contribution to diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and at least 13 cancers make obesity and overweight conditions responsible for 8.3 per cent of Australia’s total disease burden and the largest single driver of preventable health loss.

This report was commissioned by Novo Nordisk.