WORLD
Climate change-induced natural disasters cost the world $120 bn in 2025
- IBJ Bureau
- Dec 28, 2025
Heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms cost the global economy more than $120 billion in 2025, according to a new report by UK-based non-governmental organisation Christian Aid. The report notes that these disasters underscore rising financial and human toll of climate change.
The report adds that extreme weather events intensified across continents this year, with the most expensive disasters concentrated in richer countries where insured losses are higher, even as poorer nations suffered widespread devastation with limited financial protection.
“These disasters are not natural. They are the predictable result of continued fossil fuel expansion and political delay,” Joanna Haigh, the Emeritus Professor of Imperial College London, has said.
The ten most financially-damaging climate events of 2025 each caused losses running into billions of dollars, with combined damages exceeding $122 billion, the report has said. Most of these figures reflect insured losses alone, suggesting that the true economic impact is likely to be significantly higher, while human suffering often remains uncounted.
The US bore the largest financial burden, with wildfires in California topping the list as the single costliest event, causing an estimated $60 billion in damage and more than 400 deaths.
Cyclones and floods across South-East Asia ranked second, inflicting $25 billion in losses and killing over 1,750 people across Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Malaysia. Devastating floods in China followed, displacing thousands, killing at least 30 people and causing $11.7 billion in damage.
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