Tort costs nearly doubled in the UK between 2014 and 2023 a new report by the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform has found. International Tort Costs: A Comparative Analysis of the United States, United Kingdom, EUG5, Australia, and Canada, provides a comparative deep dive into the growth of litigation costs across five key jurisdictions with the UK experiencing the fastest growth in tort costs of any country in the study.
The study projects that legal costs in the UK, relative to GDP, could overtake those of the US by 2029. At present, the US tort system carries a cost burden equivalent to 2.15% of GDP, with the UK not far behind at around 1.22%, compared with its European counterparts, where cost burdens are significantly lower at 0.4%. The research points to opt-out collective proceedings as a key driver behind the UK’s rising costs, directly linking the growing burden on the UK economy to third-party-funded mass claims.
Seema Kennedy, Fair Civil Justice Executive Director, commented:
In practical terms, this means that more of the country’s economic activity is being devoted to litigation-related costs rather than productive investment or consumption. This is a concerning trend for the UK, where the economy simply cannot sustain such high litigation costs, and promoting growth is vital.
Please read the full report here.
