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Armed Deaths Cost Nations Billions

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The Associated Press

Published: September 12, 2008

GENEVA - The United States leads the world in economic loss from deaths caused by armed crime, according to a global survey released today.

The United States registered an estimated loss of up to $45.1 billion in terms of economic productivity because of violent crimes, said the report by the U.N. Development Program and the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey.

At least 490,000 people are killed in armed crimes each year worldwide, placing a huge economic cost and social burden on nations, the report said.

The report did not give a country-by-country breakdown of the numbers of people killed in armed crimes.

But the report said that Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Jamaica and South Africa are among the countries with the highest numbers of recorded violent crimes in the world.

More people are killed worldwide in violent crimes every year than in wars, it said, asserting that the phenomenon of armed killings and its economic effect on nations is largely underreported.

In the 90 countries surveyed, the economic cost from people killed by arms each year is estimated at between $95 billion and $163 billion, according to the report.

"These estimates are based on calculations of the 'lost product' that is represented by premature deaths from armed violence," said Achim Wennmann of the Small Arms Survey.

"These people - had they lived - would have contributed as any other individual as productive members of society. Their deaths represent a loss that can be quantified," he said.

The cost arising from these deaths includes a wide range of expenses from medical care, legal proceedings, and lost earnings to lost investment, the 162-page report said.

Wennmann said the report was based on figures compiled by international organizations and national authorities. The most recent available statistics from the 90 countries surveyed were from 2004.

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