Costs differ by cause of injury, the event that resulted in the injury, such as falls, transport incidents, and unintentional poisonings.

Costs by Cause of Injury

The total costs of injury by leading causes in 2018 were:

$1,347 million (33%) for falls
$736 million (18%) for unintentional poisoning
$527 million (13%) for transport incidents
$389 million (9%) for suicide/self-harm

Costs by cost type

The direct costs of injury by leading causes were:

$1,219 million (48%) for falls
$323 million (13%) for transport incidents
$85 million (3%) for suicide/self-harm

The indirect costs of injury by leading causes were:

$669 million (45%) for unintentional poisoning
$304 million (21%) for suicide/self-harm
$204 million (14%) for transport incidents

The figure below depicts the costs in millions for cause of injury, by cost type, across BC and the Health Authorities.

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Costs by cause of injury and injury outcome

The costs of injury death by leading causes in 2018 were:

$679 million (53%) for unintentional poisoning
$305 million (23%) for suicide/self-harm

Falls accounted for the highest cost across all other injury outcomes:

$519 million (62%) for hospitalizations
$398 million (33%) for ED visits
$365 million (74%) for disability

The table below depicts costs in millions for cause of injury, by injury outcome, across BC and the Health Authorities.

The costs per injury death by leading causes were:

$636,236 per case for unintentional poisoning
$583,733 per case for transport incidents
$579,378 per case for suicide/self-harm

The costs per injury hospitalization by leading causes were:

$38,981 per case for fire/burn
$28,757 per case for drowning
$27,446 per case for falls
$26,962 per case for transport incidents

The costs per injury ED visit by leading causes were:

$2,714 per case for drowning
$2,444 per case for transport incidents
$2,391 per case for suicide/self-harm

The costs per injury disability by leading causes were:

$248,928 per case for struck by/against sports equipment
$138,579 per case for drowning
$124,889 per case for transport incidents
$103,433 per case for fire/burns

The table below depicts cost per case for cause of injury, by injury outcome, across BC and the Health Authorities.

Per capita costs of injury by cause and cost type

The per capita costs of injury by cost type in 2018 were:

$807 per capita in total costs
$511 per capita in direct costs to the health care system
$296 per capita in indirect costs

The total costs per capita of injury by leading cause were:

$269 per capita for falls
$147 per capita for unintentional poisoning
$105 per capita for transport incidents

The direct cost per capita of injury by leading cause was:

$244 per capita for falls

The indirect cost per capita of injury by leading cause was:

$134 per capita for unintentional poisoning

The table below depicts the cost per capita for cause of injury, by cost type, across BC and the Health Authorities.