Haiti and Mozambique most vulnerable to economic losses from natural disasters

Katherine Blackler in the Post Online (UK): Italy, Japan, China, USA, Spain and France also rated “high risk” on The Natural Disasters Economic Loss Index (NDELI), released by risk intelligence and ratings company, Maplecroft. New research identifying Haiti and Mozambique as the countries most vulnerable to economic losses from natural disasters also classifies a number of industrialised economies, including Italy, Japan, China, USA, Spain and France, as "high risk" environments for investors, insurers and business.

Seven countries are rated at "extreme risk" in the high frequency index, with Haiti (1), Mozambique (2), Honduras (3), Vanuatu (4), Zimbabwe (5), El Salvador (6) and Nicaragua (7) topping the ranking. However, the industrialised economies of Italy (18), Japan (23), China (25), USA (29), Spain (37) and France (48) are all in the "high risk" category, whilst India (51), UK (53), Germany (54) and Canada (55) are rated "medium risk."

"When economic losses are taken as absolute figures, it is predominantly the industrialised countries, such as USA and China, that shoulder the greatest costs," explained Maplecroft environmental analyst, Dr Anna Moss. "However, when losses are calculated as a percentage of GDP, it is developing countries that are most exposed. For example, the USA's losses from the 1997-1998 El Niño were $ 1.96bn, or 0.03 percent of GDP, whereas in Ecuador, economic losses were $ 2.9bn, or 14.6 percent of GDP."…

Tropical Cyclone Jaya came ashore in northern Madagascar in the morning of April 2, 2007. From NASA