Cost of hosting Olympic Games eases

For decades, potential host cities have looked at the ballooning costs of the Olympic Games and backed away. Paris 2024, and a less stringent IOC, has changed all that


ESTIMATED COST OF HOSTING OLYMPIC GAMES

Winter	Summer

  			Cost ($bn)	% overspend

Calgary 1988 		1.2 		65
Albertville 1992 	2.1 		137
Barcelona 1992		11.6		266
Lillehammer 1994 	3.4 		277
Atlanta 1996 		4.7		151
Nagano 1998 		2.2 		56
Sydney 2000 		5.2		90
Salt Lake City 2002 	2.7 		24
Athens 2004 		3.1 		49 
Turin 2006 		4.7 		80
Beijing 2008 		8.3 		2
Vancouver 2010 		3.2		13
London 2012 		16.8		76 
Sochi 2014 		28.9		289 
Rio de Janeiro 2016 	23.6 		352
Pyeongchang 2018 	3.4 		2
Tokyo* 2021 		13.7 		128
Beijing 2022 		8.7 		149
Paris 2024		8.7 		115

 
Cheapest Summer Games since Beijing, 2008


IOC is now more flexible towards potential host cities, looking to reuse existing venues for events rather than spending billions on new arenas
        

Note: Data adjusted for inflation to year 2022. Includes operational and construction costs, but not wider capital costs, such as investments in urban and transportation infrastructure

*Should have been held in 2020, but delayed one year due to Covid-19 pandemic


Sources: Politico, Council on Foreign Relations 
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