UNDRR & OCHA: Overview of Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean 2000 - 2022

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) are publishing their joint Overview of Disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean 2000 – 2022 to shed light on the social and economic impact of disasters in the region, analyse past trends to inform future risk mitigation and to advocate meaningful investment in risk reduction to minimize loss of life and livelihoods.

The report comes amid projections of an above-normal 2023 Atlantic hurricane season that has already affected parts of the Caribbean and of the El Niño phenomenon persisting through the remainder of the year with potentially devastating effects in vulnerable communities across Central America and South America.

These developments are typical of a region where high exposure to disasters and deeply rooted and interrelated risk factors combine to create a near-permanent risk of disaster when a hazard occurs. As it stands, Latin America and the Caribbean is the second-most disaster-prone region in the world, behind only Asia and the Pacific, with more than 1,500 disasters affecting more than 190 million people since 2000.