The Price of Noise: Estimating the Global Economic Costs of Environmental Noise from a Planetary Health Perspective

Noise linked to industrialization has emerged as a pervasive yet often underestimated en-vironmental stressor affecting both ecological systems and human health. A large body of literature and peer-reviewed work links prolonged noise exposure to biodiversity disrup-tion, cardiovascular disease, sleep disturbance, psychological distress, impaired cognitive performance, and premature mortality. Despite these impacts, comparatively little research has sought to estimate the economic magnitude of the burden of environmental noise within a planetary health framework. This evaluation presents an economic assessment of noise-attributable mortality, using published epidemiological evidence and established economic valuation methods. A hazard-ratio-based framework was applied to estimate mortality attributable to chronic environmental noise exposure among populations ex-posed to 60- and 70-dB noise levels. Both tangible costs, representing forgone economic productivity, and intangible costs, representing societal welfare losses estimated through the Value of a Statistical Life framework, were examined. Under baseline assumptions, en-vironmental noise was associated with approximately 27,692 annual noise-attributable deaths and an estimated annual economic burden of US$361.19 billion, including US$7.28 billion in tangible costs and US$353.91 billion in intangible costs. Sensitivity analyses produced estimates ranging from roughly US$39.22 billion to US$1.20 trillion annually. The results highlight that environmental noise warrants consideration beyond its tradi-tional characterization as a nuisance as a consequential planetary health stressor with implication for biodiversity, public health, economic productivity, and societal well-being. Policies aimed at reducing environmental noise exposure, including technological, regu-latory, and urban-planning interventions, may subsequently produce substantial pub-lic-health and economic benefits while contributing to healthier, more sustainable and productive communities.