Small States' Resilience to Natural Disasters and Climate Change - Role for the IMF

Publication Date:

November 7, 2016

Electronic Access:

Free Download. Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this PDF file

Summary:

Small developing states are disproportionately vulnerable to natural disasters. On average, the annual cost of disasters for small states is nearly 2 percent of GDP—more than four times that for larger countries. This reflects a higher frequency of disasters, adjusted for land area, as well as greater vulnerability to severe disasters. About 9 percent of disasters in small states involve damage of more than 30 percent of GDP, compared to less than 1 percent for larger states. Greater exposure to disasters has important macroeconomic effects on small states, resulting in lower investment, lower GDP per capita, higher poverty, and a more volatile revenue base. Read more

Series:

Policy Papers

Subject:

English

Publication Date:

November 7, 2016

Format:

Paper

Please address any questions about this title to publications@imf.org