China suffered a direct economic loss of 93.16 billion yuan (€11.81 billion) in the first half of this year due to natural disasters, the government announced on Friday. This is the deepest first-half disaster-related loss since 2019, according to data available on the website of the Ministry of Emergency Management. The country suffered floods, droughts and extreme temperatures in the first six months of the year.
China experienced cold spells and heavy snow earlier in the year, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake in the northwestern Xinjiang region, landslides in southwestern regions, and floods on the Yellow River and in southern provinces.
At least 32.38 million people were affected by natural disasters between January and June 2024, with 322 people missing or dead.
Approximately 856,000 people were displaced and 23,000 homes were destroyed. Natural disasters affected about 3.17 million hectares of crops. Their impact on the economy was worse than in the same period last year, when the country recorded losses of 38.23 billion yuan and 95 people were missing or dead.
In all of 2023, about 48.76 million people were affected by natural disasters, according to the ministry’s report from last year.
Funds allocated for disaster relief this year have so far reached 4.17 billion yuan, according to Reuters calculations, with 546 million yuan allocated last month for agriculture and disaster relief.
(1 EUR = 7.8862 CNY)
Interesting facts:
- In 2023, 48.76 million people were affected by natural disasters in China.
- The most affected areas were the northwestern Xinjiang region, southwestern regions, and the Yellow River and southern provinces.
- Among the most devastating events were floods, droughts and extreme temperatures.
Sources:
- Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/)
- Ministry of Emergency Management of China (https://www.mem.gov.cn/)
