• 414 natural disasters reported in 2007, slightly higher than the yearly average of 395 between 2000 and 2006;

• 201 million people were affected by natural disasters in 2007 – a 40 per cent increase from 2006;

• The deadliest disaster last year was Cyclone Sidr, in Bangladesh, which resulted in the deaths of 4,234 people.

• 18 disasters (nine floods, four windstorms, four drought or food insecurity events and one wildfire) affected more than 1 million people each in 2007;

• With the exception of three droughts in Africa, all of these disasters occurred in Asia;
• One flood affected over 100 million people in China and two others affected more than 10 million in India and Bangladesh.

• The cost of damage inflicted by natural disasters last year was estimated at nearly US$ 63.5 billion;

• windstorms accounted for almost 40 per cent of the total and floods for more than a quarter;
• damages from the Niigata earthquake (US$ 12.5 billion) represented almost one-fifth of all reported damages;
• Fourteen disasters accounted for more than US$ 1 billion in damages.

*Source:  Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) - based at the School of Public Health of Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.