Costs by Cause of Injury

Costs by Cause of Injury

Falls had a higher total cost than any other cause in 2018, accounting for $760 million and 42 per cent of the total cost of injury. Transport incidents had a total cost of $256 million, suicide/self-harm, $201 million, and unintentional poisoning, $79 million.

Fall-related injuries accounted for 54 per cent of all direct costs, or $712 million. Indirect costs were highest for suicide/self-harm ($157 million), transport incidents ($107 million), and unintentional poisoning ($64 million).

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Costs by injury outcome

Deaths due to suicide/self-harm and transport incidents contributed the most to the cost of injury deaths in 2018; these two causes combined accounted for 60% of the cost. Falls accounted for the highest cost across all other injury outcomes.

Violence had the highest cost per death, followed by drowning and unintentional poisoning. Injuries from fire/burns, falls, and transport incidents had the highest cost per hospitalization.

Direct and indirect costs

Injuries cost each person in Atlantic Canada $743 in 2018. Of that, $546 per person went to health care system costs due to injury. Fall injuries led to the highest total and direct per-capita costs. Suicide/self-harm had the highest cost per capita for indirect costs.