New research has suggested that a country’s economic output sags on soggy days.
A higher number of rainy days and more extreme daily rainfall deflate economic production worldwide, the latest work found.
High-income countries are the hardest hit by daily rainstorms because the bedrock industries of their economies—manufacturing and service—are sensitive to daily deluges. Low-income countries that rely on agriculture are still affected but to a lesser degree.
“When extreme daily rainfall increases, it’s bad for the economy.”
The analysis compared daily rainfall with the economic growth of more than 1,500 subnational regions from 77 countries over 40 years.
“When extreme daily rainfall increases, it’s bad for the economy,” said Ph.D. student Maximilian Kotz at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Potsdam, Germany, who led the research. “We know quite clearly from the climate…
