Socioeconomic effects on natural disasters fatalities in selected developing countries

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between socioeconomic factors and natural disaster fatalities in 72 selected developing countries from 2000 to 2021, using pooled OLS analysis. The factors analyzed includes land area, total population, urbanization rate, income per capita, trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the corruption index. The findings indicate that higher population density increases disaster risks and impacts, particularly in urban areas, although planned urbanization can help to mitigate these effects. Countries with higher income levels tend to experience greater property and agricultural damage, largely due to the higher value of assets and cost of living. Moreover, higher levels of corruption and foreign direct investment exacerbate disaster impacts by contributing to vulnerable infrastructure development. Conversely, larger land areas are found to mitigate overall death tolls and damage impacts by dispersing populations and resources across wider regions. From a policy perspective, the results highlight the importance of reducing population density in disasterprone areas, promoting sustainable urban planning and enforcing resilient building codes to minimize disaster’s impacts. Transparent governance and anticorruption measures are crucial for ensuring effective disaster response while economic diversification can reduce dependency on external investment and enhanced local resilience to natural disasters. These integrated policy strategies are essential for managing disaster risks effectively in developing countries.