It remains a mystery if and how anthropogenic climate change has altered the global tropical cyclone (TC) activities, mainly due to short reliable TC observations and substantial climate internal variabilities. Here we show with large-ensemble TC-permitting simulations that the observed changes in global coastal TC frequency since 1980 were caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG) and/or aerosols. The observed increases in TC frequency near the US Atlantic coast and Hawaii are likely related to the aerosol and GHG effects, respectively. The observed decrease in the South China Sea could be associated with GHG emissions alone, whereas the observed increase near Japan and Korea would be related to the aerosol and GHG combined effects. These changes are explained by the responses of large-scale environmental conditions to anthropogenic forcing. Our findings suggest the substantial influence of anthropogenic forcing on TC frequency over the heavily populated coastal regions worldwide.