Direct financial loss reached an average of $165billion per year during the last 10 years, with loss exceeding $100 billion in six of those years.

The trends in losses hide a wide range of impact. The relative share of this loss occurring in middle-income countries has seen a steady upward trend over the past 30 years (in 2012 U.S. dollar).

The rapid growth of assets exposed to hazards in middle-income countries—for example through urbanization and new infrastructure—is likely responsible for much of this increase.

As a percentage of GDP, fast-growing middle-income countries suffer the most, with average annual direct loss at 2.9 percent of GDP, followed by low-income countries (1.3 percent of GDP) and high-income countries (0.8 percent of GDP) (Munich Re 2013).

Although average direct loss relative to GDP is less for low-income countries, this does not consider the most important impact—the loss of lives, livelihoods and negative effects on human capital.

Small island states across the Caribbean and Pacific bear average losses exceeding over 3 percent of their respective GDP every year (World Bank and United Nations 2010; Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative [PCRAFI] 2011).