The latest Global Climate Risk Index (CRI) 2017, the 12th edition of its kind, has been published by Germanwatch, a Non-governmental organization (NGO) in Bonn, Germany. Based on statistics from 2015 and the period 1996-2015, the report analyses to what extent countries have been affected by the impacts of weather-related loss events including storms, floods and heat waves.

The quantified impacts of extreme weather events included both fatalities and economic losses that occurred. Between 1996 and 2015, more than 528,000 people died worldwide as a result of almost 11,000 extreme weather events, with losses of US$3.08 trillion in purchasing power parity (PPP).

Honduras, Myanmar and Haiti were the most affected countries in the 20-year period from 1996 to 2015. In 2015, the countries affected most were Mozambique, Dominica and Malawi.

Among the top 10 most affected countries (1996–2015), nine were developing countries in the low income or lower-middle income country group, and only one was an upper-middle income country.

China ranked 34th with a CRI score of 52 during the period 1996-2015. Its losses due to extreme weather reached US$32.85 million every year on average.

A total of four indicators were used to generate the report: number of deaths, number of deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, sum of losses in US dollars in PPP, and losses per unit of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The following countries suffered most from extreme weather events in the past 20 years.

 Thailand

Thailand [Photo/Xinhua]

CRI score: 34.83

Death toll (annual averages): 140

Deaths per 100,000 inhabitants: 0.22

Total losses in million US$ PPP: 7,574.62

Losses per unit GDP in %: 1.004

Number of events (total 1996-2015): 136