Healthcare organisations recorded the highest average cost of data breaches globally in 2026, at $6.64 million, despite a decline from $7.42 million in 2025.
The financial industry ranked second, with the average cost of a breach rising to $6.29 million from $5.56 million in the previous year, highlighting the growing financial burden of data security incidents across sectors.
Industrial and technology industries followed, each recording an average breach cost of $5.50 million. However, the industrial sector's figure is listed alongside another industrial category ranked fifth, at $5.38 million, up from $4.43 million in 2025.
The entertainment industry recorded an average cost of $5.25 million, compared with $4.61 million in 2025. Pharmaceutical companies and the energy sector each reported average costs of $5.24 million and $5.08 million, respectively.
Energy-related breach costs rose from $4.83 million in 2025, while pharmaceutical costs increased from $4.83 million to $5.24 million.
The impact extended to other industries, with services recording an average breach cost of $5.08 million, up from $4.56 million. Communications followed at $4.71 million, compared with $3.75 million in 2025.
Transportation businesses recorded average costs of $4.50 million, while media organisations reported $4.49 million. Both figures were higher than their respective 2025 costs of $3.98 million and $4.22 million.
Hospitality and consumer businesses recorded average breach costs of $4.33 million and $4.31 million, respectively. Education stood at $4.15 million, while research and retail recorded $3.99 million and $3.80 million.
The figures are drawn from the Cost of a Data Breach Report 2026, titled The AI tipping point.
