Biological invasions are responsible, in addition to significant biodiversity declines, for enormous economic losses to society as well as monetary expenditures for their management 1,2 . The InvaCost database has allowed for the first time a reliable, comprehensive, standardized, and easily updatable synthesis of the monetary impacts of invasions worldwide 3 . Here, we found that total reported costs of invasions reached a minimum of $1.288 trillion (2017 US dollars) over the last few decades , with an annual average cost of $26.8 billion. Moreover, we estimate that the annual average cost could reach $162.7 billion in 2017. These costs remain massively underestimated and do not show any sign of slowing down with a consistent three-fold increase per decade. Our synthesis reveals that documented costs are both widely distributed and with strong gaps at regional and taxonomic scales, with damage costs being an order of magnitude higher than management expenditures. Research approaches for documenting costs of biological invasions need to be further improved. Nonetheless, our findings are a compelling call for the implementation of consistent management actions and international policy agreements aiming to reduce invasive alien species burden.

Biological invasions are responsible for tremendous impacts globally, including huge economic losses and management expenditures. Efficiently mitigating this major driver of global change requires the improvement of public awareness and policy regarding its substantial impacts on our socio-ecosystems. One option to contribute to this overall objective is to inform people on the economic costs linked to these impacts; however, until now, a reliable synthesis of invasion costs has never been produced at a global scale. Here, we introduce InvaCost as the most up-to-date, comprehensive, harmonised and robust compilation and description of economic cost estimates associated with biological invasions worldwide. We have developed a systematic, standardised methodology to collect information from peer-reviewed articles and grey literature, while ensuring data validity and method repeatability for further transparent inputs. Our manuscript presents the methodology and tools used to build and populate this living and publicly available database. InvaCost provides an essential basis (2419 cost estimates currently compiled) for worldwide research, management efforts and, ultimately, for data-driven and evidence-based policymaking.