HomeIntelligenceWhat conflict costs
TN/INT/01
Edition 2027 · effective 1 January 2027
Data story
Every conflict has a cheapest moment. It is almost always earlier than people think.
The costs of conflict, from nations to teams, using the best available evidence.
§ 01Between nations
Violence costs a tenth of the world economy.
Economic impact of violence on the world economy in 2025, about 10.5% of global GDP.
Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Peace Index 2026 · 2025 ↗Record global military spending in 2025.
Institute for Economics & Peace, Global Peace Index 2026 · 2025 ↗People forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2024.
UNHCR Global Trends, via Euronews · 2024 ↗Countries involved in external conflict
§ 02At work
The most expensive problem nobody budgets for.
Annual cost of workplace conflict to UK employers, about £1,028 per employee.
Acas, Estimating the costs of workplace conflict (2021) · 2019 ↗UK employees who experienced conflict at work in one year; 485,800 resign as a result each year.
Acas, Estimating the costs of workplace conflict (2021) · 2019 ↗Time each US employee spent dealing with conflict every week, about US$359bn in paid hours.
CPP Inc. Global Human Capital Report, via EHS Today · 2008 ↗Employees worldwide who are engaged at work; disengagement cost an estimated US$10tn, about 9% of global GDP.
Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2026, via Kyodo News PR Wire · 2025 ↗§ 03In commerce
Record values in dispute.
Record value of new ICC cases in 2024: 841 cases, 2,392 parties from 136 jurisdictions.
ICC Dispute Resolution Statistics 2024, via Global Legal Post · 2024 ↗The most common cause of construction disputes, year after year: failure to properly administer the contract.
Arcadis Global Construction Disputes Report, via Pinsent Masons · 2018 ↗§ 04Your own number
Estimate what a conflict is costing you.
An illustration from your own inputs, calculated in your browser.
What this conflict is costing
§ 05Read with care
Scale of the problem, not proof of a solution.
These figures describe the scale of conflict, distrust or unmet justice need. They are not evidence of the effect of Neutral Evaluation, or of TheNeutralsORG™. Outcome evidence will come from studies of actual neutral interventions, which the Research programme will publish with population, method and limits. See Sources & method.