How much is pain costing Singapore’s economy?

SINGAPORE (June 20): Pain conditions are costing Southeast Asian economies about US$44.6 billion ($61.9 billion) in productivity losses on an annual basis – out of which Singapore’s estimated productivity losses make up about US$6.2 billion per year, according to the 2017 Global Pain Index commissioned by GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) healthcare division. 

This year’s edition of the index features survey responses from 19,000 adults across 32 countries including Singapore, and its findings revealed that Southeast Asian countries rank among the highest in the world for sufferers living with everyday pain, says GSK Consumer Healthcare in a press release on Tuesday.

Through the index’s results, it was found that 85% of Singaporeans interviewed have suffered from head and body pain, with 42% reporting to suffer from body pain on a weekly basis.

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