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Disaster losses and statistics

While absolute economic losses are concentrated in high-income countries, the human cost of disasters falls overwhelmingly on low and middle-income countries.

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2025 snapshot

*The figures do not represent biological nor technological disasters. Explore the Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs) for a comprehensive list of hazards.

Small-scale and slow-onset disasters are often ignored in official statistics, even though their combined impact can be just as damaging as large-scale disasters

CRED, EM-DAT disaster data inclusion criteria

EM-DAT disaster records related to natural and technological hazards meet at least one of the following inclusion criteria:

  • At least ten deaths (including dead and missing).
  • At least 100 affected (people affected, injured, or homeless).
  • A call for international assistance or an emergency declaration.
Figures2025202420232022202120202019
Overall losses in US$ b (Munich Re)224320250270280210166
Uninsured losses in US$ b (Munich Re)116180155150160128109
Insured losses in US$ b (Munich Re)108140951201208257
Recorded events (CRED)358393399387407380505
Deaths (CRED)16,60716,75386,47330,70418,27417,66427,199
People affected in million (CRED)110.2167.293.1185103.597.6109.2
Internally Displaced People by disasters in million (IDMC)13.69.87.78.75.975.1
New internal displacements by disasters in million (IDMC)29.945.826.432.623.730.724.9
People in million living in acute food insecurity driven by weather extremes (FSIN)87.5
[16 countries affected]		96.1
[18 countries affected]		71.9
[18 countries affected] 		56.8
[12 countries affected]		23.5
[8 countries]		15.7
[15 countries]		33.8
[25 countries]
Students in million that had their schooling disrupted (UNICEF)171242-----
Disasters losses of past years.

The invisible toll of disasters

The estimated insured losses from disasters are a staggering US $95 billion — but they represent just the tip of the iceberg.

There has been a startling rise in acute food insecurity (in which lack of food poses an immediate threat to life and livelihoods) between 2020. While conflict and fragility have been a major driver of this trend, the number of people facing acute food insecurity has also risen sharply, more than doubling from 30 million in 2018 to nearly 72 million in 2023.

infographic

Global Report on Food Crises 2024 (FSIN, 2024)

Over the last 30 years, an estimated USD 3.8 trillion worth of crops and livestock production has been lost as a result of disaster events, corresponding to an average loss of USD 123 billion per year or 5 percent of annual global agricultural GDP. Lower-income and lower-middle-income countries sustained the highest losses due to extreme events, up to 10 percent of their agricultural GDP. Losses in SIDS account for about 7 percent of their agricultural GDP (FAO, 2023).

14.9 million excess deaths were associated with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Excess mortality includes deaths associated with COVID-19 directly (due to the disease) or indirectly (due to the pandemic’s impact on health systems and society).

Yet, these reported losses only represent the tip of the iceberg.

Minor floods, landslides, fires, and storms often go unreported, slipping through official records.
Aerial view on damaged red single house roof after strong wind
Global risk data sets
The global risk data collection currently comprises more than 100 entries with links to sources and selected metadata which can be used and adapted in national and sub-national risk information systems. The collection will be updated annually.
Explore the data sets

"You cannot manage your disaster risk if you are not measuring your losses."

Mami Mizutori, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction

Under-reported small-scale and slow-onset disasters

Tens of thousands of small-scale disasters occur each year throughout the world because of flooding, landslides, fires and storms. These events are not reported in international databases. Yet, their impact can be just as damaging as large disasters, causing death, injury and loss of livelihoods. An analysis of records in 104 countries found that between 2005 and 2017, small and medium, localized and frequent disasters caused 68% of all economic losses. These losses are a major driver of poverty as they tend to be absorbed by low-income households and communities, small businesses, and local and national governments.

Similarly, losses from slow-onset hazards such as droughts are not always fully accounted for. Their effect often accumulates slowly over an extended period and their impacts are difficult to measure. When slow-onset disasters are added to the Asia-Pacific region’s riskscape, annualized economic losses more than quadruple to USD $675 billion or around 2.4 percent of the region’s GDP (compared to previous estimates).

Are we doing enough to reduce disaster impacts on lives and livelihoods?

Indirect and intangible losses

Direct losses refer to the physical or structural impact caused by the disaster such as the destruction of infrastructure resulting from high winds, flooding or ground shaking. Indirect effects are the subsequent or secondary results of the initial destruction, such as business interruption losses. A full consideration of all direct, indirect, and intangible losses would produce much higher loss estimates than the more easily quantified and commonly seen records of direct loss.

Direct vs. indirect losses

Lost productivity

Severe disasters have lasting effects on productivity. Analysis from the World Bank finds that during 1960-2018, climate disasters reduced annual productivity by an average of 0.5 percent. After three years, severe climate disasters lower labor productivity by about 7 percent, mainly through weakened total factor productivity.

Severe biological disasters can also cause persistent damage to productivity. Four epidemics since 2000 (SARS, MERS, Ebola, and Zika) had significant and persistent negative effects on productivity. They lowered productivity by 4 percent after three years.

Supply chains disruptions

The impact of local disasters can also be felt across the global economy. After Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico in 2017, a major wholesale medical supply company in San Juan was unable to maintain production. As a result, hospitals across the United States faced a critical shortage and a 600% increase in the cost of intravenous bags.

A vital maritime trade route is running out of water. The Panama Canal has been a major thoroughfare for international trade for more than 100 years.

Research has found that intensifying river floods caused by global warming will affect the European Union and the United States predominantly by indirect losses passed down along the global trade and supply network. In the US, In the US, direct losses from riverine floods are expected to be around 30 billion US dollars, whereas indirect losses could reach 170 billion US dollars in the next 20 years.

Lost investment

Disasters also divert funding from investments to finance the rebuilding costs. To really understand the economic costs of a disaster, growth accounting considers the productive use of capital and innovation.  In the US for instance, hurricanes caused $306 billion in damages in 2017 and $91 billion in 2018. As a result, productive investment fell about $400 billion in total in those years.

Mental health

Disasters can also impact mental health. People whose homes are damaged by storms or flooding are significantly more likely to experience mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. In the UK, the estimated mental health cost from flooding events ranges from £1,878 to £4,136 per adult, depending on the magnitude of the flood.

Lost education

Children and youth affected by disasters often miss school, owing to displacement, the destruction of facilities or the use of school buildings as temporary shelters. School closures not only undermine education, they also hamper the provision of essential services in vulnerable communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the most severe disruption in the world’s education systems in history. According to UNESCO, nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries, 94% of the world’s student population, were affected by the closure of educational institutions at the peak of the crisis.

More about direct vs. indirect losses

Playlist: Measuring and tracking disaster losses

re we doing enough to reduce disaster impacts on lives and livelihoods? To answer this question, we need to track disaster losses and damages.
View all videos on YouTube

Additional resources

Related Sections on Preventionweb