Natural disasters caused considerably less damage last year than in 2008.

The total damage worldwide caused by storms and earthquakes came to 50 billion dollars this year. According to international insurer Munich Re, this was 150 billion dollars less than the previous year.

The greatest damage was caused by Hurricane Klaus, that raged across northern Spain and southwest France in January.

In 2009, natural catastrophes killed ten thousand people worldwide. In the last ten years, there was an average of 75,000 thousand victims each year.

Photo: the aftermath of hurricane Ida in El Salvador (EPA)