Zimbabwe and Mozambique have been listed among the seven countries most vulnerable to the economic impact of natural disasters and unsafe for investors, insurers and doing business, according to a report published here Saturday.

A new research by the UK-based risk intelligence and ratings company Maplecroft said the two African countries are among states regarded as in “extreme risk” to the vagaries of environmental disasters.

The research ranked earthquake-ravaged Haiti as the riskiest country in terms of vulnerability to economic losses from natural disasters.

The seven countries are rated at “extreme risk” in the high frequency index, with Haiti (1), Mozambique (2), Honduras (3), Vanuatu (4), Zimbabwe (5), El Salvador (6) and Nicaragua (7) topping the ranking, the group said.

The Natural Disasters Economic Loss Index (NDELI) published by Maplecroft evaluates the economic impact of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, storms, flooding, drought, landslides, extreme temperatures and epidemics between 1980 and 2010.

The index measures the risk of economic losses from damage costs and deaths caused by natural disasters, reflecting both the direct impact of natural disasters on property and infrastructure plus the indirect impacts on the population.

Although Zimbabwe is less prone to serious natural disasters like earthquakes and flooding, it is the country’s precarious economic climate that makes it particularly vulnerable to loss in the event of such emergencies occurring.

To provide an accurate picture of the global situation, the NDELI is split into two rankings – one measuring the risks to the 87 countries that suffer a high frequency of natural disasters and the other evaluating the 116 countries that experience less than one event per year.

The research also classified a number of industrialized economies, including Italy, Japan, China, US, Spain and France, as “high risk” environments for investors, insurers and business.

Italy was ranked 18th while Japan, China and US were ranked in the top 30 riskiest countries.

(Source)