Stroke has the highest total hospital costs, driven by both high prevalence and high average cost per stay
Total hospital costs for heart attacks in men were twice as high as those in women, due to a higher prevalence
Total hospital costs for stroke increased over time, largely driven by an increased average cost per hospital stay, while costs for heart attack and liver cirrhosis remained stable
2.Cost of hospital stays
Costs of hospital stays are highest for stroke
When comparing cirrhosis of the liver, acute cerebrovascular disease (stroke), and acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), stroke accounted for the highest total hospital costs in 2021, followed by heart attack and then cirrhosis. This cost ranking is consistent between men and women. However, total hospital costs for all three diseases were lower in women than in men, with the most pronounced difference seen in heart attacks, where costs for women were less than half those for men.
The high total hospital costs due to stroke are driven by both high prevalence and high average cost per stay
Costs of hospital stays due to stroke were highest (largest bubble) and were driven by a combination of high prevalence and high average cost per hospital stay (top-right corner of the graph). Cirrhosis of the liver had the lowest total hospital costs among the three diseases, but the second highest average cost per stay. Heart attacks had the lowest average cost per stay, but the second highest total costs. For all three diseases, the average cost per hospital stay was similar between men and women. For heart attacks, the number of hospital stays for women was less than half those for men.
Total hospital costs for stroke increased over time
There is an upward trend in the hospital costs due to stroke over the years in both men and women, while costs due to heart attacks and cirrhosis remained stable.
There is an upward trend of the average cost per stay for all three diseases
The average cost per stay increased for all three diseases, with similarly large increases for stroke and cirrhosis of the liver, and a smaller increase for heart attack.
There is a downward trend in the number of hospital stays
In women, the number of hospital stays decreased for all three diseases, with the largest relative decrease observed for cirrhosis of the liver, followed by heart attack and stroke as compared to 2013. In men, the largest relative decrease was also observed for cirrhosis, followed by heart attack, while stroke-related stays remained stable.
For cirrhosis of the liver and heart attack, the increased average cost per stay was offset by a decreased number of hospital stays
The evolution of total hospital costs due to a disease is determined by how the number of hospital stays and the average cost of these hospital stays change over time. While we observed an upward trend in the average cost per stay for the diseases discussed in this chapter, this did not necessarily translate to increased total hospital costs. The increased average cost per stay was offset by a decreased number of hospital stays. Only for stroke did the increased average cost per stay lead to increased total hospital costs, since the number of hospital stays did not decrease as much (not at all for men).
The best data source for each disease is determined by a critical appraisal [3]). The analysis of the costs of cardiovascular diseases and cirrhosis on this webpage is based on the hospital discharge data from the Technical Cell for data processing regarding hospitals [1, 2]. This dataset is based on linked and validated data from the Minimum Hospital Summary of the FPS Public Health and on INAMI billing data. The latter comes from the anonymous hospital stay (SHA-AZV) documents sent by the insurers [1].
How we calculate hospital costs
We received the total hospital costs and number of hospital stays for all years by disease directly from the Technical Cell. To calculate the average costs per hospital stay for the bubble graph, we divided the total hospital costs by the number of hospital stays.
Definitions
Hospital costs
The hospital costs represent the costs for hospital stays based on the hospital discharge data from the Technical Cell for data processing regarding hospitals [1]. They include nursing day price, drugs, services, clinical biology, and other amounts.
Gegevens uit de databank TCT, de dato 07 01 2025; Dienst Data en Beleidsinformatie, FOD Volksgezondheid, Veiligheid van de Voedselketen en Leefmilieu, België.
Please cite this page as: Sciensano. Cost of illness: hospital stays, Health Status Report, 24 July 2025, Brussels, Belgium, https://www.healthybelgium.be/en/health-status/cost-of-illness/hospital-stays
