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ARTICLE · 26 MARCH 2025

EU Antitrust Fines Soar Amid Uncertain Global Enforcement Outlook

A&O Shearman
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2024 saw a significant increase in overall global fines for antitrust enforcement, with total penalties for the jurisdictions surveyed in our report at USD6.7 billion, over double that of 2023 (USD2.9bn) and substantially higher than 2022 (USD3.5bn).

European UnionAntitrust/Competition Law
Anthony Mansfield
Anthony Mansfield
Thomas Masterman
Thomas Masterman
Imogen Carr
Imogen Carr
Emily Bourne
Emily Bourne
Joey Chong
Joey Chong
Alexander Westin-Hardy
Alexander Westin-Hardy
Anudeep Bhattacharyya
Anudeep Bhattacharyya
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2024 saw a significant increase in overall global fines for antitrust enforcement, with total penalties for the jurisdictions surveyed in our report at USD6.7 billion, over double that of 2023 (USD2.9bn) and substantially higher than 2022 (USD3.5bn). Notably, this increase was largely due to a marked uptick in abuse of dominance fines (USD4.3bn in total), with the bulk of these coming from European Commission (EC) decisions (USD3.4bn). However, while vertical (and other non-cartel) conduct fines were also up year-on-year (USD1.8bn, up from USD195 million in 2023), fines for cartel enforcement saw a marked decrease (USD602.5m, compared to USD1.9bn in 2023), reflecting a continued downward trend.

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