Washington, June 2026 – A new global study covering 132 countries reveals the hidden toll of disasters and extreme heat on employment, estimating that each year around 90 million full‑time job equivalents are lost worldwide. The report, Worldwide Job Losses Due to Natural Hazards, highlights how natural hazards undermine livelihoods, productivity, and economic stability far beyond visible damage to infrastructure.
Rapid‑onset disasters such as floods, earthquakes, cyclones, and tsunamis account for about 9.4 million job losses annually, with earthquakes and floods driving the largest impacts. Yet the most significant disruption comes from extreme heat, which reduces safe working hours in physically demanding sectors like agriculture and construction, leading to nearly 80 million job losses each year.
The study underscores that these losses often mean reduced hours, lower productivity, and lost income rather than outright unemployment. Informal workers, who dominate employment in many developing countries, are particularly vulnerable, often experiencing the deepest shocks and slowest recoveries.
The burden is highly unequal. Low‑income countries face job loss rates more than twice as high as upper‑middle‑income countries and six times higher than high‑income nations. Within countries, poorer households bear the brunt. In Türkiye, for example, 41% of disaster‑induced job losses fall on the poorest fifth of the population.
The World Bank Group stresses that investing in resilience is central to protecting jobs and livelihoods. Its three‑pillar approach includes building resilient infrastructure and social systems, strengthening governance and disaster preparedness, and mobilizing private capital to close financing gaps. Examples include flood protection and livelihood support in Bangladesh, disaster risk management reforms in Rwanda, and resilient hospital investments in Türkiye.
By embedding risk‑informed development into infrastructure projects, policy financing, and national strategies, the World Bank Group aims to help countries reduce disaster‑related job losses and build more competitive economies. Supported by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the study highlights why resilience is not just about reducing damage — it is about safeguarding livelihoods and ensuring economic stability in the face of growing climate risks.
