United Nations Development Program estimates the Zika epidemic could cost the Latin America and Caribbean region as much as $18 billion by 2018.
In a recent report it equates the figure to extra healthcare costs, loss of productivity and falling tourism revenues.
"Aside from losses to GDP and to economies heavily dependent on tourism, and the stresses on health care systems, the long-term consequences of the Zika virus can undermine decades of social development, hard-earned health gains and slow down progress towards the sustainable development goals," said Jessica Faieta, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The impact will be felt hardest on Caribbean nations which could be five times that of South American countries due in part to their reliance on the tourism industry.
The actual cost of Zika could be more than 2% of GDP in Aruba and the US Virgin Islands, the UNDP said in the report.
According to the World Health Organization, 2,971 confirmed cases of microcephaly, caused by a Zika infection have been recorded since 2015.
Microcephaly can cause epilepsy, cerebral palsy, learning difficulties and other developmental issues in children carried by Zika infected mothers.
Last week it was revealed 51 children were born with Zika-linked birth defects in the US last year.
"Although Zika may seem like last year’s problem, or an issue confined to Brazil, there have been more than 1,600 cases in pregnant women reported here in the U.S.," says the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Anne Schuchat.
"We’re still seeing about 30 to 40 Zika cases in pregnant women each week in the U.S. Zika is here to stay."
