“The direct and indirect costs of cancer increase dynamically. Cancer prevention is the scope for action and an effective lever to contain the effects and increasing stress,” says Peter Lehner, chairman of the social security of the self-employed (SVS) when presenting the joint study of the SVS and the economic research institute Economica on the economic effects of cancer in Austria. “The cost structure is extremely complex, but with a extrapolation we can estimate the economic burden in Austria with 1.7 billion euros,” says Professor Christian Helmenstein, Managing Director Economica and chief economist from the industrial association (IV).
In the next 25 years there will be a dynamic increase in health expenditure for cancer in Europe and especially in Austria. According to current calculations in the EU, costs increase by 59 percent, Austria can expect an increase of 63 percent. That means per capita costs of 600 euros per year. “Around every tenth euro of health costs flows into the supply of cancer patients,” says Lehner, continuing: “The reasons are the increasing life expectancy, the increase in cost -intensive therapies and the longer medication with increased residual life expectancy.”
Hospitalization, medication, loss of acquisition and productivity
“Different cost factors play an important role in economic considerations: In addition to hospitalization and medication costs, the costs for the treatment of the accompanying complaints and the lost working days as well as the loss of productivity are added,” explains Helmenstein. Austria recently recorded 65,000 hospitalizations per year with a total of 388,000 days of hospital stay for the four types of cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer. “That alone can be quantified at 510 million euros,” says Helmenstein and emphasizes that the medication costs for oncologics in Austria are difficult to calculate. In studies from Germany, drug costs for breast cancer make up 35 percent of medical costs, 15 percent for cervical cancer and with intestinal and prostate cancer it is an estimated 25 percent. “There are 200,355 hospitalization days with 536,660 lost working hours. That alone is 35 million euros in GDP losses,” emphasizes Helmenstein. Employment and occupational disability are other economically relevant factors. In 2023, 467 people became unable to work.
High increase: men between 50 and 60
A total of 45,000 people fall ill in Austria in Austria. While the age curve is flat for women in women, men between 50 and 60 have a rapid increase. “This target group affects SVS insured, as self-employed people are overrepresented here. Entrepreneurs of this age are often at the top of their entrepreneurial activity. Failures have a strong impact on the development of their company,” explains SVS chairman Lehner. “In 2025, SVS is all about cancer.
Breast cancer screening: 41 % in Austria, 80 % in Scandinavia
In the respective target group, 41 percent take part in breast cancer screening in Austria. In the Scandinavian countries it is over 80 percent compared to. 85 percent in Austria make cervical cancer screening and 62 percent of colon cancer. In the SVS, 120,000 examinations for cervical cancer, 82,000 for skin cancer, 62,000 for prostate cancer, 43,000 for breast cancer and 22,000 colonoscopies were perceived by SVS insured persons in the past year. In the first quarter of 2025, an increase of over 21 percent for the comparison quarter 2024 was reached in the first quarter of 2025 and an increase of over 18 percent in skin cancer prevention. The number of breast cancer preventive examinations was only slightly increased, those for cervical cancer by 6.5 percent and prostate cancer prevention have completed 8.6 percent more. Overall, the bonus has already been paid out over 50,000 times.