OBJECTIVES: To assess the costs of vaccination throughout life for a fully immunized Western European citizen.  METHODS: Vaccines recommended in the most recent National Vaccination Calendar (NVC) for Germany, England, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Portugal were used differentiating men from women and healthy individuals from those suffering from underlying condition(s) who require specific additional vaccinations. Unit vaccine costs and administration fees were retrieved from national official sources. The number of visits was adjusted for possible co-administrations to better reflect local vaccination practices. All costs were calculated from the national healthcare perspective. In sensitivity analyses, vaccine costs were varied within a +/-30% range to account for possible price variations due to competition, market type, size and vaccines lifecycle. Administration fees were increased by 30% hypothesizing that medical fees are unlikely to decline over time.  RESULTS: Vaccinating an individual against up to 19 diseases throughout his entire life and in full compliance with NVC would range from €350 to €2,400 (vaccines costs only) and from €450 to €3,400 when administration costs are considered. Lowest range corresponds to healthy man in Sweden and highest range to woman with underlying conditions in England. Vaccination costs were variable among countries due to heterogeneous NVCs and vaccination organization. In all countries but France, adults (18-64y) and elderly (≥65) accounted for the lowest vaccines costs compared to pediatric (0-24m) and children/adolescents (2-17y). In comparison, other mass secondary prevention may be at least 3 times more costly. CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination requires a relatively low amount of money per individual knowing that some missed opportunities remain in senior vaccinations. A life-course approach of vaccination should be considered as a smart investment providing substantial benefit falling actually well beyond individual health and protecting the whole population and economy against potentially troublesome and resource intensive outbreaks of infectious diseases.