Corrosion might seem like just rust on a bridge, a leaky pipe, or paint peeling off a car. But behind those familiar images lies a global economic and climate challenge of enormous scale.
When metals like steel react with their environment, they begin to degrade. This natural process, known as corrosion, quietly but steadily weakens the structures we rely on every day. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE 2016) estimated the global cost of corrosion at around US$2.5 trillion, which equals about 3.4% of the world’s GDP.
To put it in perspective, corrosion costs more than the entire GDP of countries such as Italy, Brazil and Canada*.
The damage isn’t only financial. Corrosion disrupts society in visible ways such as bridge failures that cut communities off, water loss from leaking pipelines, and production delays when equipment must be repaired or replaced.
The hidden climate cost
Corrosion isn’t just an engineering or business issue; it’s also a climate one. When steel corrodes and must be replaced, new steel must be produced.
Recent research suggests that replacing corroded steel alone could account for 4.1–9.1% of total CO₂ emissions by 2030, even under climate-target scenarios**. That’s nearly as much as the emissions from the entire European Union today, which is about 3.22 GtCO₂e (EU27, 2024).
A fix we already know
The encouraging news is that we know how to fight corrosion.
One of the most powerful tools we have against corrosion is stainless steel. Its secret lies in an ultra-thin, invisible “passive layer” on its surface. This layer, made of chromium and iron oxides and hydroxides, acts like a shield, keeping out corrosive elements such as acids, salts, and pollutants.
As long as this protective layer is in place, stainless steel stays highly resistant to corrosion. The more chromium the steel contains, the stronger this protection becomes. Other elements like nickel, molybdenum, nitrogen, and copper can be added to boost resistance in challenging environments such as seawater, acidic conditions, and areas with high chloride levels, or those with industrial pollution.
The result? Longer lifetimes, less maintenance, fewer failures and less carbon tied up in remaking steel that shouldn’t have failed in the first place.
The economics of prevention
Corrosion is often treated as an unavoidable cost. But the numbers show otherwise: prevention pays off. Studies suggest that by applying today’s best corrosion-control practices, losses could be reduced by 25–30%. That translates into US$375–875 billion in savings every year (NACE International Report), money currently lost to repairs, replacements, and downtime.
The lesson is simple: the materials and design choices made at the start of a project determine not only its durability, but also its long-term economic and environmental footprint. By shifting from a “lowest upfront cost” mindset to life-cycle cost analyses, we can see that longer-lasting materials like stainless steel often prove more competitive. Their extended service life more than offsets the somewhat higher initial investment.
Tackling corrosion, therefore, isn’t just maintenance, it’s smart economics and a climate strategy rolled into one.
The change is here
The world is transforming with immense speed. As technologies morph and political winds shift, one constant runs through every scenario: societies will still need vast expanses of resilient, low-impact infrastructure and energy – and material choices are the key to meeting those needs.
By matching the right stainless steel grade to the right environment, we can stop most corrosion challenges before they even begin. The payoff is profound: safer infrastructure, cleaner water, more resilient energy systems, lower lifetime costs, and a significant contribution to global climate goals.
In Outokumpu’s new white paper, The Evolution of Materials: Stainless Steel Insights 2025, we reveal insights from senior decision-makers globally, examine the cost of corrosion and outline how stainless steel’s strengths can combat these costs – financial, environmental, and beyond.
Read and download the new white paper here
*) World GDP Ranking 2025 List, Biggest economies in 2024 by gross domestic product
**) Iannuzzi & Frankel, 2022, The carbon footprint of steel corrosion, Materials Degradation