Europe's Workforce Hit Hard by Early Cancer and Heart Deaths

Early cancer and heart disease deaths are a big problem for Europe's health and its money. They also keep people from working and hurt the economy.

The study pulled death figures for adults 15‑74 from the WHO and combined them with labor data from Eurostat. Then they built a life‑cycle model that tracks each worker's pay, job chances and how long they stay in the workforce.

The model shows that early loss from these diseases costs about €220 billion, which is 1.18 % of Europe's total GDP. Cancer accounts for roughly €130 billion, about 59 %, while heart disease makes up €90 billion, about 41 %. Each early cancer death means about €236 k of lost work, and each early heart death about €222 k. The biggest impact is seen in Central‑Eastern Europe.

If Europe steps up prevention and catches disease early, many avoidable early deaths could be stopped. That would keep more people working and help the economy stay strong for the long run.