QATAR’S WORLD CUP COSTS
The estimated cost of hosting the Qatar World Cup is £177.826 billion (US$208 billion), according to research by Alliance Fund. This is equivalent to 112% of the nation’s annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2022.
The Alliance Fund analysed data on the cost of every World Cup since Italy in 1990, taking into account the money invested into infrastructure, as well as the cost of building new or updating existing stadiums and adjusting this cost for inflation. They also looked at what this investment cost equates to as a percentage of the host nation’s GDP in the year they hosted the tournament.
After Qatar, the 2018 World Cup in Russia comes in as the second most expensive, costing the nation £11.252 billion (US$13.1 billion) – equivalent of around 1% of the nation’s GDP. Sitting behind Qatar and Russia is the South African World Cup in 2010, estimated to have cost the equivalent of 0.86% of the nation’s annual GDP.
The Al-Thumama Stadium in Qatar