INDIA LOSES 0.4% OF ITS GDP EVERY YEAR TO NATURAL DISASTERS

NEWS: India loses on average 0.4% of its GDP every year due to natural disasters. Across Emerging Asia (India, China, ASEAN-11), disasters are becoming more frequent or becoming more intense

What does 0.4% GDP loss mean?

It is an average annual loss (1990–2024)

Comparable to:

• Entire budget of some social sectors
• Several lakh crore rupees annually

Composition of India’s disaster losses:

• Hydrological: floods, landslides (largest share)
• Meteorological: cyclones, heatwaves
• Climatological: droughts, wildfires
• Geophysical: earthquakes (lower share)

World Risk Index

• India ranks 2nd highest in Asia, after the Philippines.
• Risk is calculated using: Exposure (population, assets), Vulnerability, which includes:
• Structural susceptibility
• Coping capacity
• Long-term adaptive capacity

Why Disaster Risk Finance is Now Crucial

As losses rise:

• Governments cannot rely only on relief funds
• Need: Risk insurance, Contingency funds, Catastrophe bonds, Pre-disaster financing