Monitoring Desk: Climate related hazards are projected to destroy 167 million homes by 2040. In 2023, natural catastrophes caused USD 280 billion in losses, most of which were uninsured and majority of events took place in underdeveloped countries, reports Azertac News Agency from Baku.
This phenomenon has intensified housing situation globally and shortages of adequate and affordable housing have risen by 30 per cent in just over a decade to more than 268 million units, with 1.1 billion people living in informal settlements.
Meanwhile, housing prices have risen faster than incomes in most regions: globally, price to income ratios increased from 9.3 in 2010 to 11.2 in 2023, reaching 16.8 in Central and Southern Asia. In 2023, only 25.5 per cent of applicants successfully obtained a housing loan globally, with access falling as low as 1 per cent in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, where the housing mortgage markets are in early stage of development.
Globally, 44 per cent of households spend over 30 per cent of income on housing, with rental unaffordability most severe in Sub Saharan Africa, where 55 per cent of renters are overburdened. Domestic finance, across governance levels at the national, regional and local levels need to better target effective demand and supply side subsidies to bridge these affordability gaps.
By the end of 2024, 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced – double the figure of the previous decade. An additional 64 million people were displaced from informal settlements over the past two decades. Many forcibly displaced people move to cities as refugees or displaced person’s camps, often settling in insecure or substandard housing where they face further displacement risks. Informal housing represents up to 80 per cent of residential construction in developing countries.
The report was published to coincide with the thirteenth session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), the premier global conference on sustainable urban development, which opened in Baku on 17 May.
