Australia’s destructive ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred has been ranked among the world’s costliest disasters due to climate change in 2025.
Economic losses from the severe storm that ravaged south-east Queensland and northern NSW amounted to approximately $1.8 billion.
The ten most economically catastrophic events listed by British humanitarian aid organization Christian Aid totaled more than $180 billion in losses, with each costing more than $1.5 billion.
Economic losses from destroyed property and other damage caused by the catastrophic fire exceeded $89 billion.
The tropical storms and extreme monsoon system would have cost approximately $37.2 billion, making it the second most expensive event of 2025.
The flood disaster also claimed more than 1,750 lives, making it one of the deadliest climate events of the year.
Extreme rainfall and flooding in China in June and August was the third most expensive event.
Cataloging extreme weather events is an annual undertaking by the charity which aims to highlight the economic and human toll of a changing climate.
It is based on economic loss calculations from insurance giant Aon, with most estimates based on insured losses and excluding the full costs of lost income, environmental degradation and human displacement.
The growing body of research linking rising greenhouse gas emissions to specific weather conditions also formed the basis for the report.
Following ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred, which ranked as the eighth costliest disaster on the list, ClimaMeter’s Rapid Attribution Study found the storm dumped more rain than it would have without human-induced climate change.
The storm, which threatened to barrel through densely populated urban centers as a category four tropical cyclone before being downgraded before landfall, owed much of its intensity and extreme rainfall to above-average ocean temperatures.
Researchers also noted that Alfred was moving further south than normal, raising concerns that warmer ocean temperatures would cause storms to push into new territory and pass through settlements unprepared for them.
Scientists generally expect fewer cyclones under a warming climate, but those that do form are likely to be more intense.
Davide Faranda, research director at the Laboratoire de Science du Climat et de l’Environnement, said the documented events were not isolated disasters or natural disasters.
“They are the predictable result of a warmer atmosphere and hotter oceans, driven by decades of fossil fuel emissions,” he said.
Rich countries tend to rank higher in disaster cost rankings because they tend to have higher real estate prices and residents can better afford insurance.
Yet the economies of poorer countries tend to be hit harder by extreme climate changes because these countries have fewer resources to respond.
Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid, said the findings underlined the urgent need for adaptation, especially in the South where resources are scarce.
“The poorest communities are hit first and hardest,” he said.
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