China’s economic losses from natural disasters amounted to $20 billion in July

Almaty. August 21. Silkroadnews – In July China’s economic losses from natural disasters amounted to $20 billion, British internet portal Artemis writes.
“Underscoring the need for significantly higher insurance and reinsurance penetration in China, the country’s government has reported that natural disasters during the month of July 2017 alone have resulted in direct economic losses of around US$20 billion”, the report said.
It is noted that out of 135 billion yuan ($20 billion) of direct economic losses, reported by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction of China, only a small part will be covered by insurance payments.
According to publication, despite the rapid development and urbanization that has been observed in China over the last decade along with the rapid growth the country’s insurance industry, the volume of property insurance remains relatively low, thus, natural disasters can lead to enormous economic consequences.
At least 230 people reported killed in natural disasters in July, another 44 people still missing, 2.8 million people were evacuated from areas of extreme weather, floods, typhoons and droughts. Approximately 73,000 houses were completely destroyed and 600,000 damaged, around 8.84 million hectares of agricultural land were damaged, and 920,000 hectares were totally destroyed. Floods were the major cause of economic losses in July having caused a 112.39-billion-yuan damage, heat and drought losses amounted to 16.16 billion yuan, while losses from the hail amounted to 5.88 billion yuan.
As the newspaper notes, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China, the area affected by natural disasters in 2017 was smaller compared to the previous years, but the damage was more significant.