Total cost of the COVID-19 Infection Survey

Release date:
19 September 2023

FOI Ref: FOI-2023-1334

You asked

Can you kindly supply the total cost of the Covid-19 Infection Survey (CIS), including the details of:

  1. All payments made to IQVIA

  2. Incentive payments made to participants

  3. Costs of any publicity to promote participation

  4. Payments made to other organisations engaged in benchmarking or other activities to monitor the performance of IQVIA under the contract.

  5. Any other costs associated with the survey.

We said

Thank you for your request.

Total costs incurred by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that were directly attributed to the COVID Infection Survey were £988.5m. 

A breakdown of this cost is detailed in the associated download named 'Costs incurred by the ONS directly attributed to the COVID Infection Survey'.

We provided incentives to ensure the continued participation of households, which underpinned both the longitudinal value of the survey and its operational efficiency.

Please note that the ONS did not incur costs in relation to publicity/promoting survey participation or third-party performance monitoring services.

The figures quoted above are the direct costs attributed to the operation of the COVID Infection Survey. The survey ran from 2020 to 2023, with final costs being recognised in the first quarter of financial year 2023/24.

Download associated with request

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