Inaction over lack of exercise will cost £24bn a year globally by 2030, WHO warns

A patient’s glucose level is checked at a Bengaluru clinic. Nearly half of new cases of diseases such as diabetes are likely to occur in lower middle-income countries such as Kenya and India. Photograph: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg/Getty

Nearly 500m new cases of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and dementia will occur globally by 2030 if governments do not take urgent action to encourage more people to take regular exercise, a report has found.

In a stark warning to countries where health services are already creaking, the World Health Organization said the cost of failing to get people moving more would be about $27bn (£24bn) a year.