The wider the gap between rich and poor the higher the flood mortality

TLDR

Economic inequality is rising globally and can significantly influence social vulnerability to natural hazards. The study used geocoded mortality records from 573 major flood disasters and population/economic data to fit generalized linear mixed regression models. Higher income inequality is linked to more flood deaths, a relationship that persists after adjusting for GDP, population size, and other variables, and the protective effect of GDP vanishes when inequality is considered, highlighting the importance of addressing wealth disparities in disaster risk policy.

Abstract

Abstract Economic inequality is rising within many countries globally, and this can significantly influence the social vulnerability to natural hazards. We analysed income inequality and flood disasters in 67 middle- and high-income countries between 1990 and 2018 and found that unequal countries tend to suffer more flood fatalities. This study integrates geocoded mortality records from 573 major flood disasters with population and economic data to perform generalized linear mixed regression modelling. Our results show that the significant association between income inequality and flood mortality persists after accounting for the per-capita real gross domestic product, population size in flood-affected regions and other potentially confounding variables. The protective effect of increasing gross domestic product disappeared when accounting for income inequality and population size in flood-affected regions. On the basis of our results, we argue that the increasingly uneven distribution of wealth deserves more attention within international disaster-risk research and policy arenas.