Decision-makers around the world are failing to meet society’s mental healthcare needs. This failure has negative economic and social consequences that will be magnified across our longer lives.

One in every eight people around the world currently suffers from a mental health condition, and half of us will experience such a condition at some stage in our lives. In 2021, the world’s population experienced over 155 million years lived with disability (YLD) as a result of mental health conditions.

That’s the equivalent of every person in the world spending over a week (7.2 days) with a mental health-related disability.

The scale and burden of mental ill health has vast global economic impacts. The equivalent of 4.2% of GDP is lost to mental health conditions across OECD countries every year. This burden will only increase in the coming decades as more of us are living longer lives.

There are, however, glimmers of hope. Governments and health leaders can change course and reap the benefits of investing in better population mental health. From four high-level roundtable events and dozens of interviews with experts around the world as part of the Mental Health Matters project, ILC has identified the key challenges facing health systems globally, and some bold solutions that could make a difference.

We have found that to support the mental health of people throughout their longer lives, governments and health leaders must:

• Use the 2025 UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs to bring infrastructure for, investment for, and recognition of mental health conditions in line with other NCDs
• Establish a European Year of Mental Health to cement this issue as a regional priority for the EU
• Implement a life course approach to mental healthcare provision; different age cohorts may benefit from specific interventions and pathways to care
• Re-evaluate the value of investment in mental healthcare, in order to galvanise increased and sustained investment
• Embed new interventions, technologies and concepts, such as person-centred care, into care pathways to improve outcomes and accessibility

Boehringer Ingelheim has funded ILC to produce this report. ILC has retained editorial control of all written outputs.