Investigation of the effects of the disasters occurred between 2010 and 2017 on the world economy

Abstract

Introduction Disasters cause losses in various dimensions throughout the world. They lead to social, psychological, political and cultural changes as well as economic burdens for countries. People have been facing disasters since the beginning of human history. Information about disasters occurring in different parts of the world has been found in the oldest known records. Thousands of people have lost their lives in these disasters. (Akgiray et al., 2004: 77). Natural disasters cause significant economic losses and the loss of life for countries (Erkal and Degerliyurt, 2009). According to the statistics in Turkey, natural disasters result in economic losses equal to 1.1 % of Gross National Product each year (Aktürk and Albeni, 2002). However, considering indirect economic losses such as loss of production and unemployment, total loss is estimated to be greater than 1 % of gross national product (Erkal and Degerliyurt, 2009). It is possible to estimate the economic effects of the disasters by considering factors which are affected by the disasters. When the 1999 Marmara Earthquakes in Turkey is evaluated in terms of both loss of income and loss of national wealth, the total estimated cost is between 9 million dollars and 13 billion dollars according to the State Planning Organization of Turkey and 6-10 billion dollars according to the World Bank (Akgiray et al., 2004: 77). Estimations about the economic effects of the 1999 Marmara Earthquakes suggest the following figures: the reconstruction of damaged buildings is estimated…. © Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Berlin 2019.