Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action

SDG 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

SDG Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

1. Key features and metadata

Definition: This indicator measures the number of people who died, went missing or were directly affected by disasters per 100,000 population.

Sub-indicator Disaggregated by

VC_DSR_MISS

Number of missing persons due to disaster (Number)

No current data disaggregation available.

VC_DSR_AFFCT

Number of people affected by disaster (Number)

VC_DSR_MORT

Number of deaths due to disaster (Number)

VC_DSR_MTMP

Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population (Number)

VC_DSR_MMHN

Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters (Number)

VC_DSR_DAFF

Number of directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population (Number)

VC_DSR_IJILN

Number of injured or ill people attributed to disasters (Number)

VC_DSR_PDAN

Number of people whose damaged dwellings were attributed to disasters (Number)

VC_DSR_PDYN

Number of people whose destroyed dwellings were attributed to disasters (Number)

VC_DSR_PDLN

Number of people whose livelihoods were disrupted or destroyed, attributed to disasters (Number)

Sources of information: Data collected from national line ministries, national disaster management agencies, civil protection agencies, and meteorological agencies via the Sendai Framework Monitor (UNDRR).

Related SDG Indicators: 1.5.1 and 11.5.1 (duplicates), 13.1.2 (Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies) and 13.1.3 (Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies).

2. Data availability by region, SDG Global Database, as of 02 July 2025


Figure 4.39 Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population

3. Proposed disaggregation, links to policymaking and its impact

Proposed disaggregation Link to policymaking Impact

Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters/ Number of people affected by disaster, by administrative unit

Applies to:

  • VC_DSR_MMHN
  • VC_DSR_AFFCT

This disaggregation helps policymakers understand the human cost of disasters, which is critical for taking pre-emptive and preventive action. It is useful for gaining a clear view of the localization of the disaster impacts on human life. It is alsokey information for developing policies for either disaster prevention and assessment or rescue and reconstruction operations, especially in the case of large-scale disasters.

This information could be voluntarily reported as part of the Sendai Framework Monitor.

People can be affected in many ways by disasters, which can have severe impacts on material living conditions (i.e.displaced, evacuated or relocated populations), basic infrastructure (i.e.access to basic services and work), livelihoods and assets (i.e.physical, social, cultural, and environmental), or health (i.e.injury, illness, death).This information could be used to better protect people based on their sex, the poor and those in vulnerable situations as well as to reduce their exposure and build their resilience.

Knowledge of the geographical location and type of hazard affecting the population is relevant for achieving the four priorities of the Sendai Framework: understanding disaster risk; strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; investing in disaster reduction for resilience; and enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response(UN 2016a; UNDRR 2023).

Number of deaths and missing persons attributed to disasters/ Number of people affected by disaster,by hazard type and by sex(UNDRR 2017; UNEP and IUCN 2018; UNDRR-ISC 2020):

  • Cyclones
  • Drought
  • Floods
  • Heatwaves and cold spells
  • Coastal storms
  • Fires
  • Landslides
  • Epidemics

Applies to:

  • VC_DSR_MMHN
  • VC_DSR_AFFCT

With the increasing frequency and scale of climate-related events, a sound understanding of the nature of disasters, their gender-differentiated impact and related risks is essential to the development of risk reduction policies(UNEP and IUCN 2018). Each category of hazards has specific patterns of mortality and morbidity that are important to identify.This disaggregation is relevant for developing policies aimed at both disaster risk reduction and disaster management and related post-disaster interventions and is voluntarily reported as part of the Sendai Framework Monitor.