Charted: The Cost of Extreme Weather (1993-2022)
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Key Takeaways
- Data from the Climate Risk Index 2025 outlines the damage caused by various natural disasters from 1993 to 2022
- Storms have caused the most fatalities (264,000 people) as well as the most damage ($2.33 trillion)
Extreme weather events have become more frequent in recent history, but how much damage do these disasters actually do?
In this visualization, we chart the human and economic costs of different types of natural disasters from 1993 to 2022. It includes data on fatalities, the number of people affected, and inflation-adjusted economic losses.
Data & Discussion
The data for this visualization comes from Germanwatch’s Climate Risk Index 2025.
| Hazard | Fatalities | People Affected | Economic Loss (Infl-adjusted USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
 Drought |
25,026 | 1,870,000,000 | $273,000,000,000 |
 Flood |
205,000 | 2,910,000,000 | $1,300,000,000,000 |
 Heat wave |
225,600 | 5,000,000 | $32,000,000,000 |
 Storm |
264,000 | 970,000,000 | $2,300,000,000,000 |
 Wildfire |
363 | 18,000,000 | $163,000,000,000 |
 Other |
43,248 | 105,000,000 | $65,000,000,000 |
Storms: The Most Deadly and Costly
Storms are the most damaging type of extreme weather, leading in deaths (264,000 fatalities globally) and economic losses ($2.3 trillion).
Hurricane Katrina (2005) and Hurricane Harvey (2017) are two of the costliest storms in history, causing roughly $125 billion in damage each, based on estimates from the year each storm occurred.
Heat Waves Are Silent Killers
Despite affecting fewer people overall, heat waves resulted in 225,600 deaths—second only to storms. This reflects the deadly nature of heat, especially for vulnerable populations in cities without adequate cooling infrastructure. Economically, however, their impact was much smaller at just $32 billion.
2022 was a particularly deadly year for heatwaves, especially in Europe, where record-breaking summer temperatures killed over 60,000 people.
Floods and Droughts Affect Billions
Floods affected 2.91 billion people, the highest among all extreme weather types. Droughts were close behind, with 1.87 billion people affected.
Both of these hazards can destroy homes and infrastructure, displacing large populations at once. They can also lead to waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and leptospirosis.
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