Asia-Pacific natural catastrophes: over 225 million people evacuated

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) have released a report on displacement due to natural disasters and climate change in Asia Pacific.

According to the study, natural disasters in the region over the period 2010-2021 resulted in the displacement of 225.3 million people. This number represents 78% of the global total of disaster-related displacement over the past ten years.

Floods accounted for most displacements with 113.6 million people evacuated between 2010 and 2021. The second most common cause of displacement was cyclones, typhoons and other hurricanes, which have affected nearly 100 million people.

In addition to these two natural disasters, earthquakes and tsunamis as well as volcanic activity have respectively displaced 10.2 million and 1.6 million people.

During the period under review, the cost of economic damage caused by natural disasters amounted to 780 billion USD. It is estimated that this amount will reach 1.4 trillion USD by 2059.