We assess the effective radiative forcing due to ozone-depleting substances using models participating in the Aerosols and Chemistry Model Intercomparison Project (AerChemMIP). A large inter-model spread in this globally averaged quantity necessitates an “emergent constraint” approach whereby we link the radiative forcing to the amount of ozone depletion simulated during 1979-2000, excluding two volcanically perturbed periods. During this period ozone-depleting substances were increasing, and several merged satellite-based climatologies document the ensuing decline of total-column ozone. We use these analyses to come up with effective radiative forcing magnitudes. For all of these satellite climatologies we find an effective radiative forcing outside or on the edge of the previously published “likely” range given by the 5th Assessment Report of IPCC, implying an offsetting effect of ozone depletion and/or other atmospheric feedbacks of -0.4 to -0.25 Wm-2, which is in absolute terms is larger than the previous best estimate of -0.15 Wm-2.