The attacks in Paris likely cost under $10,000

(Image credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

published 19 November 2015

After taking into account the number of weapons that were purchased, explosives that were made, and housing and transportation, it's likely the deadly attacks in Paris on Friday cost $10,000 or less.

"Terrorism is not an expensive sport," a former senior Treasury Department official told NBC News, and a senior counterterrorism official said the most high-priced items would have been AK-47s purchased on the black market.

The total cost of an attack depends on the size and location; the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen likely cost between $5,000 to $10,000, since Aden is the poorest place on the Arabian Peninsula, NBC News says. The 2002 suicide and car bombings in Bali cost $74,000, and was more expensive because it took place in a resort area, with higher prices for lodging. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were expensive due to the scale of the operation, which included travel and pilot training. A 9/11 Commission report found that the attacks cost $500,000, with $300,000 going to living expenses; at the time, the CIA estimates al Qaeda had a $35 million budget. The plotters didn't end up spending all of their money, and $26,000 was sent back to al Qaeda shortly before Sept. 11.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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