THE GLOBAL IMPACT OF DISASTERS:
- Two billion people have been affected by disasters in the past 10 years.
- In 2017, 335 natural disasters affected more than 95.6 million people, killing an additional 9,697 and costing a total of AU$472 billion.
- The Asia Pacific region suffered the majority (58 per cent) of the 9,697 deaths recorded in disasters in 2017.
- Asia is the most vulnerable region in the world, with 70 per cent of the total number of people affected worldwide.
- By the end of 2017 there were 179 internationally-funded International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies emergency response operations in place, aiming to provide 79.1 million people with assistance across 93 countries.
- The three most costly hurricanes were Harvey, Irma, and Maria, costing $95 billion, $80.7 billion and $69.7 billion respectively.
- 2017 was characterised by a higher number of reported destructive storms worldwide, with 127 compared to the annual average of 98.
- Last year saw above average and catastrophic bushfires, with 15 compared to the annual average of nine in 2017.
- There were 25 disastrous landslides worldwide in 2017 compared with the annual average of 17.
Source: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters
