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Rising rates of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in developing countries will cost them $21.3 trillion over the next two decades, a New York-based think tank has revealed, according to Sputnik.

"More patients will get sick, suffer longer, require more medical care, and die young. Given the scale of these trends, the results will reverberate," an independent study team from the Council on Foreign Relations said in a statement on Thursday.

"Low-cost, prevention-based solutions exist for each challenge and the US is in the position to help local governments implement them," researchers from the council said, adding that "progress on adapting these interventions for cost-effective, low-infrastructure use is foreseeable in the near term."

Researchers found that rates of NCDs in poorer countries are increasing faster, with younger people suffering from the conditions and with worse outcomes than in wealthier countries. Last year, NCDs killed 8 million people under the age of 60 in developing countries, according to researchers the Council on Foreign Relations.