This hard-hitting report compiled by Sheffield Hallam University is being released today to mark the beginning of M.E. Awareness Week.
The estimate includes the cost of benefits, lost earnings and healthcare for the 240,000 people who have M.E. The cost per person is almost £15,000 per year.
M.E. costs £100 each second!
Yet this doesn't even start to count the personal cost to people's lives.
Almost no research is being done into M.E. right now and there is no dedicated public funding available.
The figures revealed by the Cost to the Nation report are also the basis of our new 1% campaign which aims to pressure the government into funding M.E. research. If just one per cent -
£35 million - of the total cost of M.E. was used to kick-start research it would help find a cure and prevent people from becoming chronically ill.
You can read our Cost to the Nation report in full.
