We’re Handling Natural Disasters Much Better (Saving Many Lives!)

Death from natural disasters has seen a large decline in recent decades.

Thanks to advanced infrastructure and quicker response times, studies show a remarkable downward trend of deaths caused by natural disasters globally. Even still, research shows that some countries – particularly more-developed countries with higher living standards, infrastructure, and response systems – can today go years with no loss of life at all due to disasters.

Some years in the early to mid-1900s saw millions of deaths per year due to natural disasters. The trends of the past decade, however, indicate an average of only 60,000 deaths – or 1 percent of all deaths globally – caused by natural disasters each year. Earthquakes and floods tend to be the two most common deadly natural disasters in recent decades, as opposed to drought which was the most common deadly natural disaster of the early to mid-1900s.