Natural disasters cost 520 bln USD annually: World Bank

Global natural disasters cause an annual loss of 520 billion U.S. dollars, a World Bank report said on Monday.

These events also force some 26 million people into poverty annually, revealed Stephane Hallegatte, a senior economist with the World Bank, citing the report.

The report, entitled "Unbreakable: Building the Resilience of the Poor in the Face of Natural Disasters," warns that the combined human and economic impacts of extreme weather on poverty are far more devastating than previously believed.

In all of the 117 countries studied, the effect on well-being, measured in terms of lost consumption, was found to be larger than asset losses, indicated the study. Endit