The cost of some invasive species could be 16 times higher than we thought

The global economic cost of invasive species may be more than 1,600% higher for certain species than previously thought, according to research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. The findings, based on data from 162 invasive species, highlight the potential damage incurred and could help countries to plan cost-effective management.

Biological invasions pose a global threat to biodiversity, ecosystem services and economies, and have contributed to 60% of recorded global extinctions. Previous estimates of the monetary costs of invasive species have been based on only a few documented costs from a limited range of countries—mostly those in Europe and North America. This has led to underreporting, especially in regions with less coverage, such as Africa and Asia.

To provide a more accurate representation of costs on a global scale, Ismael Soto, Brian Leung and colleagues combined the estimated costs (including damage to agriculture and management costs) at national levels for 162 invasive species with models of where these species are distributed around the world. These included species such as the Asian tiger mosquito, tree of heaven and the American bullfrog.

The authors then modeled the costs for these species in other countries, including 78 countries for which no cost data were previously available—including Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Cyprus and Egypt. Total global costs were estimated to have been around US $35 billion annually over the past 60 years—a similar figure to the global costs of extreme weather attributable to climate change.

The highest total costs over this time period were in Europe (estimated at $1,584 billion) followed by North America ($226 billion) and Asia ($182 billion). Invasive plants—such as the butterfly bush, the water hyacinth and water primrose—were found to be the group resulting in the highest total estimated cost over the past 60 years ($926.38 billion). For example, the environmental impacts of the black wattle plant have cost South Africa an estimated $2 billion. Arthropods ($830.29 billion) and mammals ($263.35 billion) had the next highest total estimated costs.

The findings improve our understanding of the financial costs of invasive species at national levels and highlight the urgent need for regionally specific management strategies and policies to mitigate the effects of invasive species worldwide.

More information:
Ismael Soto et al, Using species ranges and macroeconomic data to fill the gap in costs of biological invasions, Nature Ecology & Evolution (2025). DOI: 10.1038/s41559-025-02697-5

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