Number of natural disasters worldwide 2023| ��ƽ��

Number of natural disaster events worldwide from 2000 to 2023

Characteristic	Number of events
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-
-	-

Download

Source

Show detailed source information?

Already a member?

Source

Release date

January 2024

More information

Region

Worldwide

Survey time period

2000 to 2023

Supplementary notes

For an event to be characterized as a natural disaster event, at least one of the criteria must be met: economic loss of 50 million U.S. dollars; insured loss of 25 million U.S. dollars; ten fatalities; 50 injured; or 2,000 homes or structures damaged.

Citation formats

In 2023, there was a total of *** natural disasters events recorded worldwide, down from *** recorded a year earlier. The Europe, Middle East and Africa region experienced the highest number of natural disasters that year.

Deaths and costs of natural disasters

Natural disasters affect almost every part of the world. In February 2023, Turkey and Syria were hit by earthquakes that resulted in the highest number of deaths due to natural disaster events that year. In terms of economic damage, Hurricane Katrina remains one of the most expensive natural disasters in the world, topped only by the earthquake/tsunami which hit Japan in 2011.

Climate change and natural disasters

Climate change has influenced the prevalence of natural disasters. Global warming can increase the risk of extreme weather, resulting in higher risk of droughts and stronger storms, such as tropical cyclones. For instance, higher levels of water vapor in the atmosphere give storms the power to emerge. Furthermore, the heat in the atmosphere and high ocean surface temperatures lead to increased wind speeds, which characterize tropical storms. Areas that are usually unaffected by the sea are becoming more vulnerable due to rising sea levels as waves and currents become stronger.