"Diabetes Is Getting Younger and More Costly"... Hanwha Life Analyzes 360,000 Cases Over Five Years

The proportion of diabetes cases among people in their 30s and 40s has increased significantly compared to four years ago.

On November 13, Hanwha Life announced the results of an analysis of 360,000 insurance claim cases from 2021 to this year, in observance of World Diabetes Day.

In 2021, four years ago, the majority of diabetes-related insurance claims came from people in their 50s and 60s. At that time, 67.4% of Hanwha Life customers who claimed indemnity insurance for diabetes were in their 50s and 60s, while only 27.3% were in their 30s and 40s.

Hanwha Life 63 Building. Hanwha Life

This year, however, the proportion of people in their 50s and 60s decreased to 55.5%, while those in their 30s and 40s increased to 35.4%. This indicates that the onset of diabetes is occurring at a younger age, showing that diabetes is no longer just a disease of old age but is becoming a condition affecting people during their active years.

By gender, men were found to have a higher risk of early onset than women. Four years ago, 30.6% of male diabetes cases occurred among those in their 30s and 40s, but this figure rose to 41.4% this year. In contrast, the proportion among women increased only slightly, from 23.3% four years ago to 27.4% this year, highlighting the growing importance of health management for younger men.

Hanwha Life also compared the insurance claim data for hypertension, another major chronic disease. Diabetes patients showed a generally higher risk of complications than those with other chronic conditions. Among diabetes patients in their 40s, the rate of insurance claims for cancer and cerebro-cardiovascular diseases was 7.4%, and for those in their 50s it was 10.6%. These rates were higher than those for hypertension patients in the same age groups (6.3% and 9.1%, respectively).

Although people in their 60s and 70s and older still account for the largest share of total claims, insurance claims among diabetes patients in their 40s and 50s for various complications and other diseases have increased rapidly. This suggests that diabetes is a disease where the risks of vascular damage and systemic complications become pronounced soon after diagnosis.

An analysis of medical expenses for indemnity insurance claims made within two years of diabetes onset showed that the average medical cost per person was about 3.33 million won. This is approximately 1.4 times higher than the average medical cost per person for hypertension patients under the same conditions, which was about 2.42 million won.

This figure reflects not just the cost of managing the disease itself, but also the actual hospital expenses for treating new or accompanying conditions that developed after diagnosis. It demonstrates that diabetes is a chronic disease requiring long-term management and has a broad impact on overall health, thereby increasing the economic burden on daily life.

Jeon Kyungwon, Head of Data Integration at Hanwha Life, stated, "The data confirmed that diabetes requires greater costs and effort for management after onset than for the onset itself," adding, "When diabetes develops in people in their 30s and 40s, the management period is longer and the likelihood of complications is higher, making early diagnosis and lifestyle management more important than ever."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.