Overview

• The European Environment Agency’s updated analysis expands its scope to include six West Balkan states for the first time.
• Annual economic losses from floods, storms, wind and hail reached over €45 billion in 2023, down from record highs in 2021 and 2022.
• Since 1980, cumulative damages from weather and climate extremes have surpassed €790 billion, with Germany alone accounting for €180 billion.
• A significant share of these losses remains uninsured, causing insured damages to lag well behind overall economic impacts.
• Heat and cold waves, droughts and wildfires have driven most documented fatalities, although direct links to heat often remain unclear.