South Africa features in the top 10 countries when it comes to money lost in data breaches, coming in at ninth place with an average data breach cost of $3 210 000.
Experts at Proxyrack have looked into the countries and industries losing the most money to data breaches, as well as the countries most commonly targeted by data breaches and the impact remote working has had on the cost of data breaches.
The top 10 countries losing the most money to data breaches
| Rank | Country/Region | Average Data Breach Cost |
| 1 | United States | $9,050,000 |
| 2 | Middle East | $6,930,000 |
| 3 | Canada | $5,400,000 |
| 4 | Germany | $4,890,000 |
| 5 | South Korea | $4,690,000 |
| 6 | United Kingdom | $4,670,000 |
| 7 | France | $4,570,000 |
| 8 | Italy | $3,610,000 |
| 9 | South Africa | $3,210,000 |
| 10 | Australia | $2,820,000 |
The research also revealed that, in 2021, the average data breach cost for companies with 81% to 100% of remote employees was over $5,5-million, whereas companies with 61% to 80% of remote employees had an average data breach cost of just under $4,4-million.
he US was named the most commonly targeted country in the world for data breaches with 7 221 177 breaches per one million people. France followed in second, with South Sudan taking third.
The average cost of a data breach in the healthcare industry is $9,23-million, which is the highest of any of the industries profiled. The financial industry had the second highest data breach cost, averaging $5,27-million.