Expensive habit (Image: Design Pics Inc/Rex)

Cars are pricey enough, but they take another toll. Smog from road transport drains $0.8 trillion yearly from a group of 34 wealthy nations.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that air pollution costs OECD countries $1.7 trillion a year in healthcare and premature deaths. Road transport accounts for half of this.

Estimating the costs of environmental problems is a good way to get governments to take action, says Darby Jack of Columbia University in New York. “That’s the language they speak,” he says. “When it’s done right it can really make an impact.”


The most harmful emissions come from diesel engines, so the OECD wants governments to remove incentives to buy them. The organisation also suggests expanding urban bicycle sharing and electric car programmes, and introducing more charges for the use of roads.

Air pollution also costs $1.4 trillion in China and $0.5 trillion in India. Both have seen deaths due to smog rising faster than the global average.

Many nations are trying to cut smog, for instance, by making cars more efficient, but any gains have been overwhelmed by the rising number of cars in fast-expanding cities in China and India.