OBJECTIVES: COPD is a severe respiratory disorder and a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality worldwide. The objective is to assess the burden of illness (BOI) associated with moderate to very severe COPD in the US, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Australia. METHODS: Two targeted literature reviews in a systematic framework were performed. The searches were performed in Medline, Medline in process and Embase databases to identify humanistic and economic burden publications from the last 10 years; additional searches on EconLit and NHS EED were performed for further identifying articles specific to the economic burden. RESULTS: In total 4981 abstracts were identified and screened. Seventeen articles were included for the humanistic burden and 24 for the economic burden. COPD is associated with substantial humanistic burden. Patients with COPD experience an impaired Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), in both their physical and mental health. Dyspnoea and exacerbations are major drivers of the humanistic burden. In addition, the early morning, daytime and night-time COPD symptoms pose a significant burden on patients, as they greatly affect their sleep quality and physical activity level, and are associated with worse dyspnoea, health status and higher anxiety and depression levels. COPD poses a significant burden on healthcare budgets. This is primarily driven by the high prevalence of the disease and its comorbidities, and the associated cost of treatment (e.g the cost of hospitalisations due to exacerbations). Furthermore, the indirect costs associated with loss of productivity, absenteeism and impaired patient’s and caregiver’s work pose an additional burden on individuals and economies.     CONCLUSIONS: The substantial burden of COPD warrants active management and development of new classes of COPD medications that reduce the symptoms and exacerbations associated with the severity of the disease, improve patient’s HRQoL and consequently contribute to minimising the overall economic burden.