- 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, March 12, 2026 – 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 from the study:
- $417 billion: estimated global economic impact of disinformation in 2024, including:
- $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 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 new study aiming to quantify the global economic impact of disinformation. Based on a meta-analysis of numerous existing studies, the analysis of documented cases and economic modelling, the study provides for the first time an overall order of magnitude for the economic impact of disinformation at the global level.
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.
Beyond this overall estimate, the study highlights several key insights:
- First, disinformation now directly affects the real economy: businesses, markets and consumers can all be targeted by information manipulation campaigns.
- Second, these attacks are becoming increasingly professionalised and industrialised, particularly through artificial intelligence 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 asymmetry of forces is also striking. While disinformation has evolved into a profitable industry for those spreading it, it costs a fortune for those attempting to contain it. For example, Meta reportedly generated $16.4 billion in advertising revenue from fraudulent content, while the total global budget dedicated to fact-checking initiatives does not exceed $100 million (of which 45% is provided by Meta).
- Finally, 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.
Three categories of economic costs
The study identifies three main categories of economic impact associated with disinformation.
Financial flows directly diverted through information manipulation – $393bn
These flows represent the majority of the economic impact, with an estimated $393 billion. They include in particular:
- Fraud schemes based on social engineering or deepfakes
- Market manipulation or corporate destabilisation campaigns
- The influence of fake reviews on purchasing decisions
For example, $227 billion in consumer spending is estimated to be directly influenced by fake online reviews. Designed to create a massive distortion in the digital economy by giving undue visibility to lower-quality or non-compliant products while penalising legitimate offers, fake reviews are considered a form of information manipulation aimed at influencing individual or collective opinions for financial gain.
Social economic impacts – $10bn
Estimated at around $10 billion, these reflect the health and social consequences of disinformation. The spread of false health information, for instance, can lead to increased pressure on healthcare systems or delays in medical diagnoses.
Political economic impacts – $14bn
Finally, around $14 billion corresponds to political costs, including public spending related to combating information interference or protecting democratic processes.
Financial services particularly exposed
The Sopra Steria report also highlights that the financial sector appears to be among the most exposed to these risks. This is partly because finance relies on two fundamental assets — trust and information — both of which are highly vulnerable to disinformation. In addition, financial institutions sit at the heart of economic flows: payments, e-commerce, investments and credit all depend on their infrastructures.
As a result, when a disinformation campaign affects an economic sector — for example by manipulating public perception — its effects are immediately reflected in financial flows.
“Because it relies on trust and information — precisely the two elements that disinformation seeks to undermine — finance is on the front line,” notes Ayman Awada. “A few years ago, financial institutions were among the first to structure their cybersecurity. Today they can play the same role in addressing information threats. But this requires immediate action and a multi-layered approach: raising public awareness, implementing organisational and technological control mechanisms within companies, and strengthening European regulatory frameworks to reinforce digital trust.”
Sopra Steria calls for collective mobilisation against information threats
In response to the industrialisation of information manipulation, Sopra Steria emphasises the need for both public and private organisations to strengthen their information resilience.
Much like what occurred in cybersecurity twenty 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.
For Sopra Steria, the response to these threats must be ecosystem-wide. The group contributes to structuring this ecosystem through the Cercle Pégase, a think tank dedicated to analysing and countering information threats, bringing together public institutions, companies, researchers and experts.
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. This is why we are working to bring together an ecosystem of elected representatives, public institutions, industrial players, start-ups, media organisations and the research community, in order to develop both the strategic thinking and the operational solutions required to strengthen information resilience in France and across Europe.”
This study therefore represents a first milestone in understanding the economic dimension of disinformation and aims to encourage broader mobilisation among organisations in response to information threats.
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