Disinformation's global economic impact estimated at $417 billion in Sopra Steria study

• The disinformation industry was worth $417 billion in 2024, according to a new study conducted by Sopra Steria.
• Its impacts are distributed across financial, social and political costs, affecting businesses, markets and public institutions.
• In response to the industrialisation of disinformation, Sopra Steria calls for the development of European information resilience bringing together companies, institutions and experts.

PARIS, April 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sopra Steria, a major player in the European tech sector, is publishing a new study analysing the economic impact of disinformation worldwide in 2024. According to the analysis, information manipulation accounted for approximately $417 billion in 2024, a level comparable to the annual revenues of major technology companies or a significant share of the GDP of certain countries.

The study relies on an open and reproducible methodology, inspired by approaches used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), combining a meta-analysis of existing research, the analysis of documented cases and economic modelling.

Key findings:

• $417 billion: estimated global economic impact of disinformation in 2024, including:
• • $393 billion in direct financial impacts
  • $11 billion in costs linked to AI-enabled fraud
  • $5.5 billion lost to crypto scams such as "pig butchering"

Ayman Awada, Executive Director of the Financial Services vertical at Sopra Steria Group, comments: "This study shows that disinformation is no longer only a democratic issue. It now represents a major economic risk for businesses and markets. With the industrialisation of information manipulation and the rise of artificial intelligence, organisations must now treat this phenomenon as a strategic risk. The challenge is clear: moving from awareness to the organisation of genuine information resilience at the European level."

Sopra Steria provides a first estimate of the economic impact of disinformation

For a long time, disinformation was primarily analysed from a political or democratic perspective. In recent years, however, it has expanded dramatically in scale. The rise of social media, the industrialisation of information manipulation campaigns and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence have transformed it into a major economic risk.

To better understand this reality, Sopra Steria has published a study aiming to quantify the global economic impact of disinformation. Its central estimate amounts to $417 billion for 2024, divided into three major categories of impact: financial flows, estimated at $393 billion; social impacts, $10 billion; and political impacts, $14 billion.

More information here.

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CONTACT: Aurélien Flaugnatti, aurelien.flaugnatti@soprasteria.com

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