Biological invasions are responsible for substantial biodiversity declines as well as high economic losses to society and monetary expenditures associated with the management of these invasions1,2. The InvaCost database has enabled the generation of a reliable, comprehensive, standardized and easily updatable synthesis of the monetary costs of biological invasions worldwide3. Here we found that the total reported costs of invasions reached a minimum of US$1.288 trillion (2017 US dollars) over the past few decades (1970–2017), with an annual mean cost of US$26.8 billion. Moreover, we estimate that the annual mean cost could reach US$162.7 billion in 2017. These costs remain strongly underestimated and do not show any sign of slowing down, exhibiting a consistent threefold increase per decade. We show that the documented costs are widely distributed and have strong gaps at regional and taxonomic scales, with damage costs being an order of magnitude higher than management expenditures. Research approaches that document the costs of biological invasions need to be further improved. Nonetheless, our findings call for the implementation of consistent management actions and international policy agreements that aim to reduce the burden of invasive alien species.

Invasive alien species—species that have successfully been introduced, established and spread beyond their native range—can have profound, negative effects on biodiversity4, ecosystem functioning and services5, human health6 and welfare7, and the economy8. In addition, biological invasions are increasingly exacerbated by globalization and climate change9,10. The worldwide implementation of efficient, coordinated control and mitigation strategies remains limited, mostly because the effects of biological invasions are undervalued by the general public, stakeholders and decision-makers11. A clear and standardized overview of the economic costs of invasions should contribute to optimizing current and future cost-effective management strategies12, and strengthen the awareness of and include communication to a wide and diverse audience13. This would help to move the issue of invasions higher up the agenda for international policies of sustainable development14. Invasive alien species are responsible for substantial losses of goods, services and production capacity (such as reduced crop yield, damaged infrastructure and altered use values of ecosystem services)8, and economic resources are spent each year for their management15. There are few global attempts to assess the costs of biological invasions16 and all previous analyses are affected by recognized flaws