A new academic study from Sopra Steria has analysed the economic impact of disinformation worldwide. 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.
The top-level $417 billion figure includes:
- $393 billion in direct financial impacts, including $227 billion in consumer spending influenced by fake online reviews
- $11 billion in costs linked to deepfakes and AI-enabled fraud
- $5.5 billion lost to crypto scams.
Beyond this overall estimate, the study highlights several key findings:
- Disinformation now directly affects the real economy: businesses, markets, and consumers can all be targeted by information manipulation campaigns.
- Such attacks are becoming increasingly professionalized and industrialized, particularly through AI technologies, which enable the large-scale production and dissemination of misleading content. According to Sopra Steria’s analysis, AI has increased the economic impact of disinformation by a multiplier effect of between 15% and 20%.
- The study shows that these impacts extend beyond businesses alone: states, healthcare systems, and public institutions also bear a significant share of the costs linked to disinformation.
Sopra Steria calls for collective mobilization against information threats
In response to the industrialization of information manipulation, Sopra Steria emphasizes the need for both public and private organizations to strengthen their information resilience.
Much like what occurred in cyber security 20 years ago, companies and institutions must now integrate disinformation into their risk management strategies. This notably involves developing monitoring, detection, and response capabilities for information manipulation campaigns, while also strengthening cooperation between public actors, businesses, researchers, and experts.
Sopra Steria says that the response to these threats must be ecosystem-wide.
Bruno Courtois, defence adviser at Sopra Steria and coordinator of the Cercle Pégase, said: “Disinformation has become a systemic risk for our economies and our societies. For a long time, we observed and analysed the phenomenon; today it is time to act. The response cannot be purely technological or purely institutional – it must be collective.”
