Natural Disaster Data Book 2019
An Analytical Overview

Asian Disaster Reduction Center

Overview
The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
Natural Disasters Data Book 2019 provides
statistical perspectives in figures and tables for2019 as well as for the period 1990-2019 basedon data obtained by EM-DAT.
According to EM-DAT, 440 natural disasters
occurred in 2019 worldwide, killing 24,112 people
and affecting approx. 100 million people. The
estimated amount of economic damage cameover US$102 billion.
In 2019, the epidemics in the Republic of theCongo and the Democratic Republic of the Congobrought about serious damages to thesecountries causing 5,400 and 3,559 people killedrespectively. India experienced a serious flooding
during the monsoon season in this year, causing
1,900 deaths, as well as approx. 3 million people
affected. In addition, Europe suffered heat waves
in the summer of 2019 and France recorded 868
deaths. The cyclone Idai which brought
devastations in the eastern Africa caused 628 and603 deaths in Zimbabwe and Mozambique
respectively, as well as approx. 270,000 and 1.5
million people affected.
The Cyclone Fani caused 20 million people
affected in India and the drought in the DPR
Korea affected 10.1 million people in 2019.
The Typhoon Hagibis which landed in Japan in
October caused great economic damage of 17
billion US dollars on the country.
By region, Asia was ranked the highest in disasteroccurrences, number of people affected andamount of economic damage with 38.2 percent inoccurrences; number of people affected, 74.4
percent; and amount of economic damage, 60.6
percent. Africa has the largest share in number ofpeople killed with 52.5 percent.
By disaster types, floods and storms accounted
for high percentages in the most of indices in
2019. However, epidemic ranked the first in
number of people killed in the world with 51.3
percent
Data Book 2019 also contains tables of the 25
worst disasters by number of people killed andaffected, economic damage, and their respective
ratios to population and gross domestic product(GDP). It also includes tables of 2019 disasters in
Asian countries sorted by country and disaster
type.

[Notes]
Source:All disaster data are based on EM-DAT: The
Emergency Events Database - Université
catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. GuhaSapir - www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium. Data
set was obtained on 20 July 2019, unlessotherwise stated.
EM-DAT Criteria:
For a disaster to be entered into the database, atleast one of the following criteria must be fulfilled:
xTen (10) or more people reported killed
xHundred (100) or more people reported
affected
xDeclaration of a state of emergency
xCall for international assistance.
In this Data Book 2019 “people killed” are definedas persons confirmed as dead and persons
missing and presumed dead. “People affected”
are the sum of injured, homeless, and affected in
EM-DAT. EM-DAT defines people affected as
people requiring immediate assistance during theperiod of emergency; requiring basic survival
needs such as food, water, shelter, sanitation and
immediate medical assistance.
Disaster Terms:“Drought” includes an extended period of
unusually low precipitation that produces ashortage of water for people, animals and plants.
“Earthquake” includes ground shaking andtsunami.
“Epidemic” includes bacterial and viral infectious
diseases.
“Extreme Temperature” includes heat wave, cold
wave, and extreme winter conditions.
“Flood” includes general flood, and flash flood.
"Insect Infection" is pervasive influx anddevelopment of insects or parasites affecting
humans, animals, crops and materials.
“Landslide” includes avalanche, debris, androckfall.
“Storm” includes local storm, tropical cyclone, andwinter storm.
“Volcanic activity” means volcanic eruption.
“Wildfire” includes bush/brush fire, forest fire, andscrub/grassland fire.
Classification of EM-DAT:
https://www.emdat.be/classification
Disclaimer:
Country and region classification used in thisbook is based on EM-DAT criteria.

Table of Contents
1. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS BY REGION, 2019 ...................................................... 2
2. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019......................................... 3
3. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN ASIA BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019 ........................... 4
4. TRENDS OF WORLD NATURAL DISASTERS, 1990-2019 ..................................................... 5
4-1 NUMBER OF DISASTERS IN THE WORLD (1990-2019) .......................................................... 5
4-2 NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED IN THE WORLD (1990-2019) ................................................... 6
4-3 NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED IN THE WORLD (1990-2019) ............................................ 7
4-4 ECONOMIC DAMAGE IN THE WORLD (1990-2019) ................................................................. 8

5. IMPACTS OF WORLD NATURAL DISASTERS BY REGION, 1990-2019 ............................... 9
6. THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA 2019 ......................................................................... 10
6-1 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED, 2019 ................... 10
6-2 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED PER MILLIONPOPULATION, 2019 ................................................................................................................ 11
6-3 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED, 2019 ............ 12
6-4 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED PER
THOUSAND POPULATION, 2019 ........................................................................................... 13
6-5 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY ECONOMIC DAMAGE, 2019 ................................ 14
6-6 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY RATIO OF ECONOMIC DAMAGE TO GDP, 2019 15

7. DISASTERS IN ASIA BY COUNTRY, 2019 ........................................................................... 16
8. DISASTERS IN ASIA BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019 ................................................................. 18

1. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS BY REGION, 2019
This section shows the impacts of natural disasters in four indices, occurrence, number of deaths, number of people
affected and economic damage that were reported across the world in 2019. As shown in Figure 1, Asia ranks thefirst among all regions in the categories of disaster occurrence, the number of people affected and the amount of
economic damage accounting for 38.2 percent, 74.4 percent and 60.6 percent respectively. It would make sense as
Asia has larger amount of land and populations compared to other regions. Asia suffers many floods and storms in
2019, which caused the high number of people affected and the amount of economic damage. Africa is ranked thehighest in the number of people killed at 52.5 percent, which is largely attributed to epidemics occurred in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the Cyclone Idai that devastated 3-4 African nations such as
Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

Figure 1: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Region, 2019

Table 1: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Region, 2019
ImpactRegionOccurrence

KilledAffected

Damage (US$ million)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)Africa114(25.9%)

12,659(52.5%)

23,588,362(23.5%)

2,447(2.4%)

Americas87(19.8%)

1,306(5.4%)

1,536,965(1.5%)

29,633(28.9%)

Asia

168(38.2%)

7,282(30.2%)

74,604,093(74.4%)

62,175(60.6%)

Europe57(13.0%)

2,757(11.4%)

436,851(0.4%)

4,310(4.2%)

Oceania14(3.2%)

108(0.4%)

57,465(0.1%)

4,000(3.9%)

Total

440(100.0%)24,112(100.0%)100,223,736(100.0%)102,565(100.0%)Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

22. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019
Regarding the breakdown of impacts of disasters by disaster type, 2019 sees impacts by drought, epidemic, flood,and storm. Storm and flood account for high percentages in all the indices, which shows great impact to human lives
and economies in 2019. Flood is the most frequent natural disasters occurred in 2019 so as other years and also
shows high percentages of the number of people killed and affected, as well as the amount of economic damage.
Storm accounts for 67.7 percent of the amount of economic damage although the number of occurrence is less thanhalf of the one of flood. Epidemic tops at 51.3 percent of the number of people killed, following flood (21.2 percent)and extreme temperature (12.1 percent).

Figure 2: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Disaster Type, 2019
Table 2: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Disaster Type, 2019
ImpactDisaster Type

Occurrence

KilledAffected

Damage (US$ million)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)Drought

16(3.6%)

85(0.4%)

29,182,237(29.1%)

135(0.1%)

Earthquake

32(7.3%)

262(1.1%)

1,657,626(1.7%)

2,409(2.3%)

Epidemic

36(8.2%)

12,362(51.3%)

1,540,659(1.5%)

0(0.0%)

21(4.8%)

2,909(12.1%)

161,382(0.2%)

0(0.0%)

194(44.1%)

5,105(21.2%)

34,606,650(34.5%)

36,828(35.9%)

Insect infestation8(1.8%)

0(0.0%)

0(0.0%)

0(0.0%)

Landslide25(5.7%)

727(3.0%)

174,099(0.2%)

200(0.2%)

Extremetemperature
Flood

Storm

90

(20.5%)

2,525(10.5%)

32,837,691(32.8%)

59,262(57.8%)

Volcanic activity

4(0.9%)

21(0.1%)

48,823(0.0%)

0(0.0%)

Wildfire

14(3.2%)

116(0.5%)

14,569(0.0%)

3,731(3.6%)

Total
440(100.0%)24,112(100.0%)100,223,736(100.0%)102,565(100.0%)Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

33. IMPACTS OF NATURAL DISASTERS IN ASIA BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019
In this section, let's take a look at the overview of impacts of disasters by disaster type in Asia in 2019. Flood tops inoccurrence and the number of people killed and affected. Storm is ranked the first in the amount of economic
damage with 63.7 percent and the second in occurrence and the number of people affected. These two natural
disasters dominate over 60 percent in each indice. Epidemic was counted as second for the number of people killed.
Drought also causes the third highest number of the people affected this year.

Figure 3: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Disaster Type in Asia, 2019
Table 3: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Disaster Type in Asia, 2019
ImpactDisaster Type

Occurrence

KilledAffected(share in %)(share in %)Drought

7(4.2%)

77

Earthquake

21(12.5%)

Epidemic8(4.8%)

6(3.6%)

Extremetemperature

Damage (US$ million)(share in %)(share in %)(1.1%)

15,704,561(21.1%)

0(0.0%)

206(2.8%)

1,442,770(1.9%)

1,464(2.4%)

2,001(27.5%)

724,537(1.0%)

0(0.0%)

335(4.6%)

30,897(0.0%)

0(0.0%)

Flood

80(47.6%)

3,750(51.5%)

28,689,777(38.5%)

20,927(33.7%)

Landslide7(4.2%)

233(3.2%)

32,165(0.0%)

200(0.3%)

Storm

36(21.4%)

649(8.9%)

27,976,351(37.5%)

39,584(63.7%)

Wildfire3(1.8%)

31(0.4%)

3,035(0.0%)

0(0.0%)

Total

168(100.0%)7,282(100.0%)74,601,058(100.0%)62,175(100.0%)Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

44. TRENDS OF WORLD NATURAL DISASTERS, 1990-2019
4-1 NUMBER OF DISASTERS IN THE WORLD (1990-2019)
The year 2019 sees an increase from the previous year’s 334 to 440 in terms of the occurrence. The number shows
almost as high at the years of 1999-2010. In the collective 5-year period representation of data in Figure 4-2, a
downward trend could have been observed in the last 15 years starting from 2005-2009 period although 2015-2019
period shows a slight increase compared to 2000-2014 period.

Figure 4-1: Disaster Occurrence, 1990-2019

Figure 4-2: Disaster Occurrence (Average of 5-year period), 1990-2019
Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

54-2 NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED IN THE WORLD (1990-2019)
The death toll in 2019 shows an increase from the previous year’s 15,222 to 24,112 although it still shows adecrease trend from 2011. As seen in Figure 4-4 about the trend of the 5-year period average, the number ofpeople killed for the period 2015-2019 shows drastic decrease from 83,738 to 17,234.

Figure 4-3: Number of People Killed, 1990-2019

Figure 4-4: Number of People Killed (Average of 5-year period), 1990-2019

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

64-3 NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED IN THE WORLD (1990-2019)
Regarding the number of people affected, 2019 sees an increase from the previous year’s 84,228,172 people to100,223,736. The 5-year period average representation shows that the number of affected people has not changed
much in the last 15 years although there is a decrease trend since the period 2000-2004.

Figure 4-5: Total Number of People Affected, 1990-2019

Figure 4-6: Number of People Affected (Average of 5 year period), 1990-2019

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

74-4 ECONOMIC DAMAGE IN THE WORLD (1990-2019)
Economic damage caused by natural disasters declines slightly from approx. US$131 billion in 2018 to approx.
US$ 103 billion in 2019. However, in the 5-year period average analysis, an upward trend is shown in the last 15
years although the damage in the period 2015-2019 is lower than the one in the period 2010-2014.

Figure 4-7: Amount of Damage, 1990-2019

Figure 4-8: Economic Damage (Average of 5-year period), 1990-2019
Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

85. IMPACTS OF WORLD NATURAL DISASTERS BY REGION, 1990-2019
For the period 1990-2019, Asia dominates and ranks the first in all natural disaster’s impact categories acrossregions of the world. It would be natural in a way as Asia has larger amount of land and higher number of populationcompared to other regions. However, approx. 87 percent of the number of people affected in Asia can beconsidered too high compared to other regions. Americas rank the second in the economic damage with 41.4
percent, following Asia with 45.4 percent.

Figure 5: Impacts of World Natural Disasters by Region, 1990-2019
Table 5: Impacts of Natural Disasters by Region, 1990-2019
ImpactRegionOccurrence

KilledAffected

Damage (US$ million)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)(share in %)Africa2,261(20.2%)

209,265(11.2%)

435,440,592(7.2%)

27,392(0.8%)

Americas2,634(23.5%)

348,859(18.6%)

307,919,502(5.1%)

1,348,552(41.4%)

Asia

4,382

(39.1%)

1,151,932(61.5%)

5,259,237,131(86.8%)

1,475,985(45.4%)

Europe1,486(13.3%)

156,726(8.4%)

31,766,233(0.5%)

321,615(9.9%)

Oceania443(4.0%)

5,769(0.3%)

24,164,875(0.4%)

80,309

(2.5%)

Total

11,206(100.0%)1,872,551(100.0%)6,058,528,333(100.0%)3,253,853(100.0%)Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

96. THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA 2019
6-1 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED, 2019
For the number of people killed in Asia in 2019, India is ranked in the first with the flood occurred during themonsoon season from July to September, claiming 1,900 people's lives. In 2019, six epidemic events come into thelist showing that it claims many lives of people in Yemen, the Philippines, India and Pakistan. Flood occupies 11
ranks in total out of the 25 worst disaster in Asia by number of people killed in 2019.
Table 6-1: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Number of People Killed, 2019
Economic
Disaster TypeCountry

Date

KilledAffected

Damage(US$ Million)

1

Flood

India

14/07/2019

1,900

3,000,000

10,0002

Epidemic

Yemen

01/01/2019

713

461,54203

Epidemic

Philippines

01/01/2019

492

106,630

0

4

Epidemic

Philippines

01/01/2019

333

22,967

0

5

Flood

China

12/06/2019

300

4,500,000

6,200

6

Epidemic

Yemen

01/2019219

59,486

0

7

Flood

Indonesia

16/03/2019

206

59,540103

8Extreme temperatureJapan

29/07/2019

162

18,347

0

9

Epidemic

India

01/01/2019

121

418

0

10

Flood

Nepal

08/07/2019

119

82,541

204

11

Flood

Myanmar08/08/2019

115

1,875

0

12

Flood

Bangladesh

07/07/2019

114

7,600,000

75

13

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

99

390,470

17,00014

Epidemic

Pakistan

01/01/2019

95

53,8340

15Extreme temperatureIndia

06/201990

16

Landslide

Indonesia

21/01/2019

84

6,643

17

Drought

Pakistan

01/201977

4,680,912

0

18

Storm

China

10/08/2019

72

108,000

10,000

19

Flood

Iran

19/03/2019

70

10,001,076

2,500

20

Flood

Indonesia

31/12/2019

66

501,110

1,200

21

Flood

Pakistan

16/07/2019

64

871

0

22

Flood

Afghanistan

02/03/2019

63

129,100

0

23

Storm

Philippines

24/12/2019

63

3,297,246

16

24

Flood

India

28/06/2019

52

60

0

25

LandslideChina

23/07/2019

51

40

0

0
0

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

106-2 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED PER MILLIONPOPULATION, 2019
Using the ratio of the number of people killed to total country population, the epidemics in Yemen (Cholera andDengue) rank the first and second with 25.02 and 7.68 persons killed per one million respectively. By disaster type,epidemics occupy the top 3 lists although floods did 15 out of the 25 worst disasters in Asia by number of people
killed per population in 2019. In this list, epidemics and floods rank 20 out of the 25 lists, followed by three storm
events, one extreme temperature and one landslide.

Table 6-2: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Number of People Killed per Million Population, 2019
Disaster TypeCountry1

Epidemic

Yemen

2

Epidemic

3

Epidemic

4
5

Date

Killedper million

KilledPopulation

01/01/2019

25.02

713

28,498,687

Yemen

01/2019

7.68

219

28,498,687

Philippines

01/01/2019

4.61

492

106,651,922

Flood

Nepal

08/07/2019

4.24

119

28,087,871

Flood

Mongolia

15/06/2019

3.79

12

3,170,208

6

Epidemic

Philippines

01/01/2019

3.12

333

106,651,922

7

Flood

Lao PDR

10/09/2019

2.27

16

7,061,507

8

Flood

Myanmar08/08/2019

2.14

115

53,708,395

9

Flood

Afghanistan

02/03/2019

1.69

63

37,172,386

10

Flood

India

14/07/2019

1.40

1,900

1,352,617,328

11

Epidemic

Sri Lanka

01/2019

1.29

28

21,670,000

12Extreme temperatureJapan

29/07/2019

1.28

162

126,529,100

13

Flood

Oman

18/05/2019

1.24

6

4,829,483

14

Landslide

Afghanistan

11/12/2019

1.08

40

37,172,386

15

Storm

Nepal

30/03/2019

1.00

28

28,087,871

16

Flood

Afghanistan

18/03/2019

0.94

35

37,172,386

17

Flood

Iran

19/03/2019

0.86

70

81,800,269

18

Flood

Afghanistan

06/01/2019

0.81

30

37,172,386

19

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

0.78

99

126,529,100

20

Flood

Indonesia

16/03/2019

0.77

206

267,663,435

21

Flood

Cambodia

11/09/2019

0.74

12

16,249,798

22

Flood

Bangladesh

07/07/2019

0.71

114

161,356,039

23

Flood

Afghanistan

22/05/2019

0.65

24

37,172,386

24

Storm

Philippines

24/12/2019

0.59

63

106,651,922

25

Flood

Sri Lanka

29/11/2019

0.55

12

21,670,000

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium
Note: Population data is taken from World Bank 2018, with the exception of Taiwan (China) for which the data was extracted from the
IMF World Economy Outlook Database 2018.

11

6-3 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED, 2019In terms of the number of people affected, the storm in India ranks the first with 20 million people affected, following
the drought in DPR Korea with 10.1million people affected and the flood in Iran with approx. 10 million people
affected. In 2019, the number of disaster events that affected more than one million amounts to 9. By disaster type,
flood events count 10 out of the 25 worst disasters in Asia by number of people affected in 2019, followed by storms
with 6.
Table 6-3: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Number of People Affected, 2019
Disaster TypeCountry

Date

1

Storm

India

03/05/2019

2

Drought

DPR Korea

01/2019

3

Flood

Iran

4

Flood

Bangladesh

5

Drought

Pakistan

6

Flood

China

7

Storm

8

KilledAffected

Economic Damage(US$ Million)

50.00

20,000,000

1,810

0

10,100,000

019/03/2019

70

10,001,076

2,500

07/07/2019

114

7,600,000

75

01/201977

4,680,912

0

13/06/2019

300

4,500,000

6,200

Philippines

24/12/2019

63

3,297,246

16

Flood

India

14/07/2019

1,900

3,000,000

10,0009

Storm

Philippines

2/12/20194

2,647,558

109

10

Storm

Thailand04/01/2019

7

720,885

011Drought

Viet Nam

07/20190685,558

0

12

Flood

Indonesia

31/12/2019

66

501,110

1,200

13

Epidemic

Yemen

01/01/2019

713

461,542

0

14

Flood

Cambodia

11/09/2019

12

435,000

0

15

Earthquake

Philippines

15/12/2019

14394,565

0

16

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

99

390,470

17,000

17

Flood

China

15/07/2019

17

360,000

0

18

Flood

Lao PDR

10/09/2019

16309,1760

19

Earthquake

Philippines

31/10/2019

23

260,703

0

20

Storm

Bangladesh

09/11/201940

251,506

6

21

Earthquake

Indonesia

26/09/2019

31

247,418

0

22

Earthquake

China

17/06/2019

13

244,220

1,300

23

Flood

Syria

30/03/2019

2

235,000

024

Drought

Sri Lanka

08/20190

222,091

0

25

Flood

Indonesia

06/03/2019

9

168,3970

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

126-4 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFFECTED PER THOUSAND
POPULATION, 2019
Using the index of the people affected per thousand population, the drought in DPR Korea results in 395 people
affected per thousand population following Iran with 122, which are also ranked the second and the third in theprevious list (Table 6-3: The Worst Disasters in Asia by Number of People Affected, 2019) on page 12. These twodisasters show higher ratios than the rest of disaster events ranked in this list. Among top 25 lists, storm and flood
disasters occupy 19 ranks out of the 25 worst disasters in Asia by number of people affected per thousand
population in 2019.
Table 6-4: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Number of People Affected per Thousand Population, 2019
Disaster TypeCountry

Date

Affected
per thousand

Affected

Population

1

Drought

DPR Korea

01/2019395.31

10,100,000

25,549,819

2

Flood

Iran

19/03/2019

122.26

10,001,076

81,800,269

3

Flood

Bangladesh

07/07/2019

47.10

7,600,000

161,356,039

4

Flood

Lao PDR

10/09/2019

43.78

309,176

7,061,507

5

Storm

Philippines

24/12/2019

30.92

3,297,246

106,651,922

6

Flood

Cambodia

11/09/2019

26.77

435,000

16,249,798

7

Storm

Philippines

2/12/201924.82

2,647,558

106,651,922

8Drought

Pakistan

01/201922.06

4,680,912

212,215,030

9

Epidemic

Yemen

01/01/2019

16.20

461,542

28,498,687

10

Storm

India

03/05/2019

14.79

20,000,000

1,352,617,328

11

Flood

Syria

30/03/2019

13.90

235,000

16,906,283

12

Storm

Thailand04/01/2019

10.38

720,885

69,428,524

13Drought

Sri Lanka

08/201910.25

222,091

21,670,000

14

Flood

Sri Lanka

02/12/2019

7.73

167,436

21,670,000

15Drought

Viet Nam

07/20197.18

685,558

95,540,395

16

Flood

Sri Lanka

29/11/2019

7.15

155,009

21,670,000

17

Flood

Sri Lanka

23/09/2019

6.30

136,607

21,670,000

18

Storm

Armenia

27/06/2019

3.96

11,7002,951,776

19

Earthquake

Philippines

15/12/2019

3.70

394,565

106,651,922

20

Flood

Maldives

30/05/2019

3.49

1,800

515,696

21

Flood

Afghanistan

02/03/2019

3.47

129,100

37,172,386

22

Flood

China

13/06/2019

3.23

4,500,000

1,392,730,000

23

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

3.09

390,470

126,529,100

24

Flood

Sri Lanka

18/12/2019

2.98

64,614

21,670,000

25

Flood

Nepal

08/07/2019

2.94

82,541

28,087,871

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium
Note: Population data is taken from World Bank 2018, with the exception of Taiwan (China) for which the data was extracted from the
IMF World Economy Outlook Database 2018.

13

6-5 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY ECONOMIC DAMAGE, 2019
According to the EM-DAT database, the storm in Japan tops in the 25 ranks of the worst economic damage in Asia
in 2019 with US$ 17 billion. Another storm in Japan appears as the fourth rank with US$ 0.9 billion of economic
damage. The flood in in India ranks second with US$ 10 billion damage, which also causes not only economic
damage, but also extensive human impact in the country. By country, China occupies 9 out of the 25 worst disasters
in Asia by economic damage in 2019. By disaster type, flood and storm have the largest shares with 11 and 10
ranks respectively out of the worst 25.
Table 6-5: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Economic Damage, 2019
Disaster TypeCountry

Date

Total deaths

Total affected

Economic Damage(US$ Million)

1

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

99

390,470

17,000

2

Flood

India

14/07/2019

1,900

3,000,000

10,000

2

Storm

China

10/08/2019

72

108,000

10,000

4

Storm

Japan

08/10/2019

3

120,150

9,100

5

Flood

China

13/06/2019

300

4,500,000

6,200

6

Flood

Iran

19/03/2019

70

10,001,076

2,500

7

Storm

India

03/05/201950

20,000,000

1,810

8

Earthquake

China

17/06/2019

13

244,220

1,300

9

Flood

Indonesia

31/12/2019

66

501,110

1,200

10

Storm

Republic of Korea

02/10/2019

15

1,411

553

11

Storm

Philippines

18/07/2019

4

2,000

377

12

Flood

China

29/07/2019

0

11,400

315

13

Storm

China

02/10/2019

3

0

263

14

Flood

Nepal

08/07/2019

119

82,541

204

15

LandslideChina

19/08/2019

38

6,606

200

16

Storm

China

03/07/2019

6

45,120

145

17

Storm

China

05/09/2019

0

0

131

18

Storm

Philippines

02/12/2019

4

2,647,558

109

19

Flood

Indonesia

16/03/2019

206

59,540

103

20

Flood

Japan

27/08/2019

1

302

100

21

Earthquake

Iran

08/11/2019

6

23,084

90

22

Flood

China

15/10/2019

14

0

90

23

Flood

Iran

09/03/2019

5

20

80

24

Flood

Bangladesh

07/07/2019

114

7,600,000

75

25

Earthquake

Philippines

22/04/2019

25

15,55550

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium

146-6 THE 25 WORST DISASTERS IN ASIA BY RATIO OF ECONOMIC DAMAGE TO GDP, 2019In terms of economic damage incurred relative to gross domestic product (GDP), the flood in Nepal results in thehighest damage with approx. 0.7 percent of the GDP, which ranks 14th in the previous Table 6-5 (The worst
disasters in Asia by ratio of economic damage to GDP in 2019). By disaster type, only three disasters, such as flood,storm and earthquake rank in the list with 11, 10 and 4 events, respectively. The Philippines occupy 5 out of the 25
worst disasters in Asia by ratio of economic damage to GDP (Table 6-6), in contrast to 3 out of 25 in the previous list
(Table 6-5: The Worst Disasters in Asia by Economic Damage, 2019) on page 14. On contrary, China occupies 4
out of the 25 worst disasters in Asia by ratio of economic damage to GDP (Table 6-6) although it ranks 9 out of theprevious list (Table 6-5: The Worst Disasters in Asia by Economic Damage, 2019) on page 14.
Table 6-6: The 25 Worst Disasters in Asia by Ratio of Economic Damage to GDP, 2019
Economic
Disaster TypeCountry

Date

Damage /GDP(as per cent)EconomicGDP

Damage(US$ Million)(US$ Million)

1

Flood

Nepal

08/07/2019

0.6993204

29,174

2

Flood

Iran

19/03/2019

0.58042,500

430,082

3

Flood

India

14/07/2019

0.3686

10,0002,713,165

4

Storm

Japan

12/10/2019

0.3431

17,0004,954,807

5

Storm

Japan

08/10/2019

0.1837

9,100

4,954,807

6

Flood

Indonesia

31/12/2019

0.1151

1,200

1,042,240

7

Storm

Philippines

18/07/2019

0.1088377

346,842

8

Storm

China

10/08/2019

0.072010,00013,894,817

9

Storm

India

03/05/2019

0.06671,810

2,713,165

10

Flood

China

13/06/2019

0.0446

6,200

13,894,817

11

Storm

Republic of Korea

02/10/2019

0.0321553

1,720,579

12

Storm

Philippines

2/12/2019

0.0315

109346,842

13

Flood

Bangladesh

07/07/2019

0.027475

274,039

14

Earthquake

Iran

08/11/2019

0.020990

430,082

15

Flood

Iran

09/03/2019

0.018680

430,082

16

Flood

Viet Nam

05/08/2019

0.018445

245,214

17

Earthquake

Philippines

22/04/2019

0.014450

346,842

18

Storm

Philippines

10/11/2019

0.010436

346,842

19

Flood

Indonesia

16/03/2019

0.0099103

1,042,240

20

Earthquake

China

17/06/2019

0.00941,300

13,894,817

21

Earthquake

Pakistan

24/09/2019

0.005417

314,568

22

Storm

Philippines

24/12/2019

0.0045

16

346,842

23

Flood

China

29/07/2019

0.0023315

13,894,817

24

Storm

Bangladesh

09/11/2019

0.0021

6

274,039

25

Flood

Japan

27/08/2019

0.0020100

4,954,807

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir www.emdat.be, Brussels, Belgium
Note: GDP data is taken from World Bank 2018, with the exception of the data for Iran and Taiwan (China), which was extracted fromthe IMF World Economy Outlook Database 2018. In addition, DPR Korea and Syria were excluded from making this list as data on
theirs GDP is not available either on the World Bank 2018 or the IMF World Economy Outlook Database 2018.

15

7. DISASTERS IN ASIA BY COUNTRY, 2019

Country
Afghanistan

Disaster Type

Occurrence

Total
deathsTotal
affected

Damage('000 US$)

Flood

6

171

130,9420Landslide

1

40

0

0

ArmeniaStorm

1

11,7000

Bangladesh

Extreme temperature

1

50

4,500

0

Flood

1

114

7,600,000

75,000Landslide1

2

18,016

0

Storm

3

94

261,551

5,785

Cambodia

Flood

1

12

435,000

0

China

Earthquake

4

17

308,156

1,302,000

Flood

6

355

4,887,261

6,605,000

Landslide

2

89

6,646

200,000

Storm

4

81

153,120

10,539,000

Wildfire

1

30

0

0

Georgia

Flood

1

5,088

0

India

Epidemic

2

1,318

0

Extreme temperature

2

112

450

0

Flood

5

2,023

3,070,060

10,000,000

Storm

5

172

20,130,000

1,810,000

Indonesia

Iran

121

Earthquake

5

54

264,384

0

Flood

11

326

928,887

1,318,000

Landslide

2

89

7,503

0

Wildfire

1

0

0

0

Earthquake

2

7

25,18490,000

Flood

3

76

10,001,202

2,580,000

Iraq

Flood

1

10

5,865

0

Japan

Earthquake

1

0

460

0

Extreme temperature

2

173

23,947

0

Flood

3

13

1,172

100,000

Storm

4

102

512,641

26,110,000

Drought

1

10,100,000

0

Storm

1

5

27,801

24,000

Storm

3

20

84,852553,000

Wildfire

1

1

3,035

0

Drought

100

DPR Korea
Rep. of Korea
Lao PDR

Flood

1

16

309,1760

Lebanon

Storm

1

3

11,0090

Malaysia

Flood

4

2

22,477

0

Maldives

Flood

1

1,800

0

Mongolia

Extreme temperature

1

2,000

0

Flood

1

500

0

Storm

1

500

0

Flood

2

115

8,075

0

Landslide

1

13

0

0

Flood

1

119

82,541

204,000

Storm

1

28

14,854

0

Flood

1

6

0

0

Myanmar
Nepal
Oman

16

12

Country
Pakistan

Philippines

Disaster Type

Occurrence

Total
deathsTotal
affected

Damage('000 US$)

Drought

1

77

4,680,912

0Earthquake

1

39

130,398

17,000

Epidemic

1

95

53,834

0

Flood

8

206

897

0

Storm

1

39

135

0

Drought

1

0

16,0000Earthquake

7

88

712,735

55,258

Epidemic

2

825

129,597

0

Flood

1

0

45,000

0

Storm

7

92

6,025,139

538,313

Saudi Arabia

Flood

3

20

1,418

0

Sri Lanka

Drought10

222,0910

Epidemic

1

28

18,760

0

Flood

5

30

531,866

0

Syria

Flood

1

2

235,000

0

Taiwan (China)

Storm

1

2

0

0

Tajikistan

Flood

1

4

6,750

0

ThailandDrought

1

0

0

0

Flood

1

19

158,000

0

Storm

1

7

720,8850Earthquake

1

1

1453

0

Flood

3

18

15290

0

Drought

10685558

0

Flood

5

55

125010

45000

Storm

2

4

22164

4000

Epidemic

2

932

521028

0

Flood

3

26

80500

0

168

7,282

74,604,093

62,175,356

TurkeyViet Nam

Yemen
Total

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir –www.emdat.be, Brussels, BelgiumThis table shows sum of disaster impacts in Asia in 2019.
In 2019, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Pakistan and the Philippines are recoded over 10 natural disasters in the yearof 2019. India accounts for the highest in the number of people killed by 33.34 percent, followed by the Philippines with
13.80 percent. India is ranked for the most number people affected by 31.10 percent, followed by DPR Korea and Iranwith 13.58 percent and 13.44 percent respectively. For economic damage, Japan has the largest share by 42.15 percent,followed by China with 29.99 percent.

17

8.

DISASTERS IN ASIA BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019

Disaster Type
Drought

Earthquake

Epidemic

Extreme temperature

Flood

Country

Occurrence

Total deaths

DPR Korea

10

Lao PDR

1

Pakistan

1

Philippines

1

Sri Lanka
ThailandTotal
affected

Damage('000 US$)10,100,000

0

0

0

0

77

4,680,912

00

16,00001

0222,091

0

1

0

0

0

Viet Nam

1

0

685,558

0

China

4

17

308,156

1,302,000

Indonesia

5

54

264,384

0

Iran

2

7

25,18490,000

Japan

1

0

460

0

Pakistan1

39

130,398

17,000Philippines

7

88712,735

55,258Turkey

1

1

1,453

0

India

2

121

1,318

0

Pakistan

1

95

53,8340Philippines

2825

129,597

0

Sri Lanka

1

28

18,760

0

Yemen

2

932

521,0280Bangladesh

1

50

4,500

0

India

2

112

450

0

Japan

2

173

23,9470

Mongolia

1

0

2,000

0

Afghanistan

6

171

130,9420Bangladesh

1114

7,600,000

75,000

Cambodia1

12435,000

0

China

6

355

4,887,261

6,605,000

Georgia

1

0

5,088

0

India

5

2,023

3,070,060

10,000,000

Indonesia

11326

928,887

1,318,000

Iran

3

76

10,001,202

2,580,000

Iraq

1

10

5,865

0

Japan

3

13

1,172

100,000

Lao PDR

1

16

309,176

0

Malaysia

42

22,477

0

Maldives

1

0

1,800

0

Mongolia

1

12

500

0

Myanmar

2

115

8,075

0

Nepal

1

119

82,541

204,000

Oman

1

6

0

0

Pakistan

8

206

897

0

Philippines

1

045,0000

Saudi Arabia

3

20

1,418

0

Sri Lanka

530

531,866

0

Syria

1

2

235,000

0

Tajikistan

1

4

6,750

0

18

Disaster TypeCountry

FloodLandslide

Storm

Wildfire

Total
affected

Damage('000 US$)

Occurrence

Total deaths

Thailand1

19

158,000

0

Turkey3

1815,2900Viet Nam

5

55

125,01045,000

Yemen

3

26

80,5000Afghanistan

1

40

0

0

Bangladesh

12

18,016

0

China

2

89

6,646

200,000

Indonesia

2

89

7,503

0

Myanmar

1

13

0

0

Armenia1

0

11,7000

Bangladesh

3

94

261,551

5,785

China

4

81

153,120

10,539,000

India

5

172

20,130,000

1,810,000

Japan

4

102

512,641

26,110,000

DPR Korea

15

27,801

24,000Rep. of Korea

3

2084,852553,000

Lebanon1

3

11,0090

Mongolia

1

0

500

0

Nepal

1

28

14,8540

Pakistan

1

39

135

0

Philippines

792

6,025,139

538,313

Taiwan (China)

1

2

0

0

Thailand1

7

720,8850Viet Nam

2

4

22,164

4,000

China

1

30

0

0

Indonesia

1

0

0

0

Rep. of Korea

1

1

3,035

0

168

7,282

74,604,093

62,175,356

Total

Source: EM-DAT: The Emergency Events Database - Universite catholique de Louvain (UCL) - CRED, D. Guha-Sapir –www.emdat.be, Brussels, BelgiumThis table shows disasters in Asia in 2019 by disaster type. You can also refer to the Chapter 3. IMPACTS OF
NATURAL DISASTERS IN ASIA BY DISASTER TYPE, 2019 on page 4.
In 2019, flood has the largest impact on 27 countries in Asia and also results in the highest number of occurrence, andpeople killed and affected by 47.6 percent, 51.5 and 38.5 percent respectively.
Then storm ranks second in occurrence affecting 15 countries by 21.4 percent and also in the number of people affectedwith 37.5, and ranks the first in the amount of economic damage by 63.7 percent.
Epidemic ranks the second in the number of people killed at 27.5 percent, although the shares of the number ofoccurrence and people affected are low.

19

The Asian Disaster Reduction Center was established in Kobe, Japan in 1998 with the mission to enhancedisaster resilience of its member-countries, to build safe communities, and to create a society where
sustainable development is possible. The Center works to build disaster resilient communities and toestablish networks among countries through many programs including personnel exchanges in this field.

Asian Disaster Reduction Center