Macroeconomic Implications of Natural Disasters in the Caribbean

December 1, 2004

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Tobias N. Rasmussen Macroeconomic Implications of Natural Disasters in the Caribbean, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2004) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary

Each year natural disasters affect about 200 million people and cause about $50 billion in damage. This paper compares the incidence of natural disasters across countries along several dimensions and finds that the relative costs tend to be far higher in developing countries than in advanced economies. The analysis shows that small island states are especially vulnerable, with the countries of the Eastern Caribbean standing out as among the most disaster-prone in the world. Natural disasters are found to have had a discernible macroeconomic impact, including large effects on fiscal and external balances, pointing to an important role for precautionary measures.

Subject: Environment, Financial institutions, Fiscal policy, Fiscal stance, Insurance, National accounts, Natural disasters, Personal income, Population and demographics

Keywords: Caribbean, Countries of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, Country, Developing Countries, Eastern Caribbean, ECCU country, ECCU insurance market, Fiscal stance, GDP, Global, Government, Insurance, Island state, Market, Market insurance, Natural Disasters, Personal income, Price, WP

Publication Details

Pages:

25
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2004/224
Stock No:

WPIEA2242004
ISBN:

9781451875355
ISSN:

1018-5941

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