OBJECTIVES: Herpes zoster (HZ) and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN), one of its more severe and frequent complication, are very painful and debilitating conditions. The societal economic burden of HZ in Sweden is not well described today. The objective of this study is to describe the burden of HZ and PHN in Sweden in the year 2011. METHODS: Data for inpatient care, outpatient primary care, the prescriptions of drugs, sick leave and the number or diagnostic tests were collected from national databases. The incidence of the HZ was estimated based on the number of prescriptions of antiviral drugs, on which a correcting factor has been applied. RESULTS: Almost 30,000 patients were diagnosed with HZ, with two third occurring in patients older than 50 years. The societal cost to treat these patients, including the cost to treat those patients who later developed PHN, added up to nearly 227 MSEK (21M€) which corresponds to 7,600 SEK per patient (876€). The main contributors to the total cost for the treatment of HZ patients were primary care (43%); sick leave (28%); hospitalization (10%) and specialist care (7%). Medication was a relatively small contributor with 8.5 MSEK (4%) to the overall costs for patients at all ages. CONCLUSIONS: The current study demonstrates that the burden of HZ is significant in Sweden, especially in people aged 50 years and older. This economic burden is expected to increase in the coming years since the population older than 50 years represents a growing proportion of the population. Thus, the society and the health care payers potentially have a lot to gain by introducing a vaccination program to patients aged 50 years and older, to reduce the burden and increase their quality-of-life.