Disaster relief spans immediate response, humanitarian assistance and longer recovery. The statistics below distinguish reported natural-hazard impacts from humanitarian need, displacement, planned targets, operational reach and funding commitments.
Key Disaster Relief Statistics
The most broadly useful disaster relief figures include:
- 387 natural hazards and disasters were recorded worldwide in 2022, according to EM-DAT’s natural-hazard scope.
- 30,704 deaths, including missing persons, were recorded worldwide in 2022 disasters.
- About 185 million people were affected worldwide by disasters recorded in 2022, a reported impact measure rather than a relief-recipient count.
- About $223.8 billion in economic losses were reported worldwide in 2022.
- Natural disasters caused 74,000 deaths worldwide in 2023, under the underlying international reporting scope.
- Natural disasters produced $250 billion in global losses in 2023, although loss completeness differs by country.
- An annual average of 124 million people were affected worldwide between 2015 and 2023.
- The global disaster mortality rate averaged 0.79 deaths per 100,000 people in 2014–2023, excluding COVID-19-related cases.
- The disaster-affected population rate reached 2,028 people per 100,000 worldwide in 2014–2023.
- Average annual disaster deaths fell to 41,647 worldwide in 2014–2023, from 65,597 in 2005–2014.
- Least developed countries accounted for 25.9% of global disaster mortality in 2014–2023, while representing 11.9% of the reporting-country population.
- Droughts affected 88.9 million people across six African countries in 2022.
- Pakistan’s June–September 2022 floods affected 33 million people and caused 1,739 deaths.
- 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2023, a humanitarian-scale measure that is not disaster-only.
- IFRC-DREF supported more than 24.4 million people through 167 operations in 2024.
- Cash assistance was delivered in 48% of IFRC-DREFs and Emergency Appeals in 2024.
- IFRC-DREF allocated CHF 85.3 million across 167 operations in 2024.
- Syria’s 2024 humanitarian response plan targeted 10.8 million people, compared with an estimated 16.7 million people in need.
Contents
- Global disaster relief losses, deaths and affected people
- Disaster relief trends in mortality and exposure
- Natural-disaster impacts by hazard and region
- Disaster displacement and humanitarian need
- Disaster relief funding, cash assistance and response reach
- Disaster recovery needs and operational capacity
Global Disaster Relief Losses, Deaths and Affected People
EM-DAT recorded 387 natural hazards and disasters worldwide in 2022. Its scope covers natural-hazard disasters and excludes biological and extraterrestrial hazards; reported impacts can be incomplete where event data are unavailable. EM-DAT, 2022 Disasters in Numbers
The same 2022 report recorded 30,704 deaths, including missing persons, and about 185 million affected people worldwide. “Affected” is EM-DAT’s reported impact measure and does not mean that every person received relief.
Economic losses were estimated at about $223.8 billion worldwide in 2022. Coverage and valuation vary by event and country, so the figure is a reported estimate rather than a complete accounting of all losses. EM-DAT, 2022 Disasters in Numbers
The UN Sustainable Development Goals Extended Report gives a separate global view for 2023 and longer periods:
| Measure | Period and geography | Reported figure |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster deaths | 2023, worldwide | 74,000 |
| Global disaster losses | 2023, worldwide | $250 billion |
| Average people affected | 2015–2023, worldwide | 124 million per year |
| Mortality rate | 2014–2023, worldwide | 0.79 per 100,000 people |
| Affected-population rate | 2014–2023, worldwide | 2,028 per 100,000 people |
The 2023 death and loss figures are subject to the underlying reporting system’s scope and country-level completeness. UN, The Sustainable Development Goals Extended Report 2024, Goal 13
Disaster Relief Trends in Mortality and Exposure
The long-period comparison shows different directions for mortality and exposure. The global disaster mortality rate averaged 1.61 deaths per 100,000 people in 2005–2014, compared with 0.79 in 2014–2023; both measures exclude COVID-19-related cases.
The affected-population rate moved from 1,158 per 100,000 people in 2005–2014 to 2,028 in 2014–2023. The later rate was reported as 75% higher, while average annual disaster deaths fell from 65,597 to 41,647, a 36% reduction.
| Indicator | 2005–2014 | 2014–2023 | Scope note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disaster mortality rate | 1.61 per 100,000 | 0.79 per 100,000 | Worldwide; COVID-19 excluded |
| Affected-population rate | 1,158 per 100,000 | 2,028 per 100,000 | Worldwide; affected-person indicator |
| Average annual deaths | 65,597 | 41,647 | Worldwide; COVID-19 excluded |
Least developed countries accounted for 25.9% of global disaster mortality in 2014–2023 while representing 11.9% of the reporting countries’ populations. These shares use reporting countries and the UN country classification, so they should not be treated as a universal population-risk ratio. UN, The Sustainable Development Goals Extended Report 2024, Goal 13
Disaster-risk planning capacity also expanded in the reported country count: 56 countries had national disaster-risk strategies in 2015, compared with 141 in 2024. The presence of a strategy does not measure implementation quality. UN, The Sustainable Development Goals Extended Report 2024, Goal 13
Natural-Disaster Impacts by Hazard and Region
The 2022 and 2023 event data show why disaster relief statistics need hazard and geography alongside global totals:
- Heat waves caused more than 16,000 excess deaths in Europe in 2022; this was a provisional heat-wave mortality estimate.
- Droughts affected 88.9 million people across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Niger and Burkina Faso in 2022; the figure includes events beginning in 2022 and provisional impacts, while continuing prior events were excluded.
- Pakistan’s June–September 2022 floods affected 33 million people and caused 1,739 deaths.
- Hurricane Ian caused about $100 billion in damage in the Americas in 2022.
- The 2022 Fukushima earthquake caused $8.8 billion in damage in Japan.
- The June 2022 southeastern Afghanistan earthquake caused 1,036 fatalities.
- The November 2022 Indonesia earthquake caused 334 deaths.
- The Uganda drought-induced famine caused 2,465 deaths in 2022.
The event figures above come from EM-DAT, 2022 Disasters in Numbers. Its report notes provisional heat-wave and drought figures and may omit events or impacts where data are unavailable.
Other 2022 drought estimates included 6.1 million people affected and $7.6 billion in damage in China, $22 billion in damage in the United States, and $4 billion in damage in Brazil. In 2023, Cyclone Mocha affected more than 3 million people in Bangladesh and Myanmar. EM-DAT, 2022 Disasters in Numbers; OCHA, annual report 2023
Disaster Displacement and Humanitarian Need
Forced-displacement statistics provide humanitarian context, but they are not natural-disaster-only measures. UNHCR’s total includes conflict, violence, persecution, rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order.
At the end of 2023, 117.3 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide, up 8%, or 8.8 million people, from the end of 2022. The total included 43.4 million refugees, of whom 75% lived in low- and middle-income countries, and 68.3 million people internally displaced by conflict and violence.
| Displacement measure | Period | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Forced displacement | End of 2023, worldwide | 117.3 million |
| Refugees | End of 2023, worldwide | 43.4 million |
| Refugees in low- and middle-income countries | End of 2023, worldwide | 75% |
| Conflict- and violence-related internal displacement | End of 2023, worldwide | 68.3 million |
Conflict- and violence-related internally displaced people increased 10% from the end of 2022 to the end of 2023. Sudan accounted for an estimated 9.1 million conflict-related internally displaced people at the end of 2023. UNHCR, Global Trends 2023
In 2023, 5.1 million internally displaced people returned to their places of origin, but return does not necessarily indicate safe or durable recovery. A further 158,700 refugees were resettled to third countries, 35% higher than in 2022, while UNHCR identified about 2 million people as needing resettlement globally; the needs estimate is not a completed-relief count. UNHCR, Global Trends 2023
Disaster Relief Funding, Cash Assistance and Response Reach
IFRC-DREF figures describe one operational funding mechanism, not total global disaster-relief spending. They also count people linked to supported operations, and beneficiaries may overlap across operations.
In 2024, IFRC-DREF allocated CHF 85.3 million across 167 operations involving 97 National Societies and supporting more than 24.4 million people. Cash assistance was delivered in 48% of IFRC-DREFs and Emergency Appeals, with CHF 18 million delivered in more than 60 countries. IFRC, Annual Report 2024 Executive Summary
The first half of 2023 provides a separate mid-year benchmark: CHF 30.9 million was allocated from January through June across 68 emergency operations, affecting more than 10.1 million people and involving 57 National Societies. This is a mid-year allocation total, not full-year spending, and the affected population is not necessarily unique. IFRC, DREF 2023 Mid-Year Report
Funding status matters when interpreting relief capacity:
- IFRC partners pledged more than CHF 64 million to DREF for 2023; pledges are not necessarily disbursed funding.
- Up to an additional CHF 15 million could be accessed through DREF insurance in 2023 if its trigger was met; this was a contingent maximum, not guaranteed or necessarily realized funding.
Both figures are from IFRC, Annual Report 2024 Executive Summary.
Disaster Recovery Needs and Operational Capacity
Planning documents distinguish continuing operations, requested funds, target populations and realized reach. In the IFRC Global Plan 2023, 61 operations continued into 2023: 24 Emergency Appeals and 37 DREF operations.
Those continuing operations requested CHF 1.2 billion and targeted 28.0 million people. The amount was requested funding and the population was a planned target, not expenditure or verified reach. IFRC, Global Plan 2023
The IFRC 2025 plan set a target to mobilize CHF 500 million per year through IFRC mechanisms, including CHF 100 million per year intended for DREF. These are fundraising forecasts, not realized funding. IFRC, Global Plan 2023
Syria’s 2024 planning figures show the gap between estimated need and response targets:
| Syria measure | 2024 figure | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| People needing humanitarian assistance | 16.7 million | Planning estimate |
| People targeted for assistance | 10.8 million | Response-plan target |
| Humanitarian Response Plan request | Nearly $4.1 billion | Appeal requirement |
The 16.7 million people-in-need estimate rose from 15.3 million in 2023. The response target represented approximately 67% of people estimated to need assistance, but the source cautions that the target and needs estimates use different planning definitions. USAID, Syria Complex Emergency Fact Sheet #7, May 27, 2024