The economic cost of climate-related disasters hit $2.25 trillion over the last two decades, an increase of more than 150 percent compared to the previous 20 years, the UN said Wednesday.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction noted that "climate change was increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather events" such as floods and storms. 

Between 1978-1997, total losses from climate-related disasters was $895 billion, UNISDR said in a report based on data compiled by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters at the Universite Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. But between 1998-2017 that figure hit $2.25 trillion, the report said, listing the United States, China, Japan and India as the countries where the financial toll has been highest. (AFP)