PH world's most disaster-prone country - WorldRiskIndex 2025

The Philippines has once again topped the WorldRiskIndex 2025, ranking as the world's most disaster-prone nation due to high risks from floods, storms, droughts, and earthquakes.

- By MERLINA HERNANDO-MALIPOT

RESCUE EFFORTS – A rescuer from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)-Bacolod tries to keep a child he's carrying above the chest-high flood that hit Purok Hanapbuhay, Barangay Pahanocoy, Bacolod City on Friday, Sept. 26 due to Severe Tropical Storm Opong. A total of 57 residents were rescued from the barangay.

(Photo courtesy of BFP-Bacolod via Glazyl Masculino)

"The Philippines is once again at the top of the WorldRiskIndex this year: a country characterized by high geographic fragmentation and high exposure to weather-related extremes," the report said.

The annual WorldRiskIndex, published on September 24, assessed disaster risks in 193 United Nations member states, covering over 99 percent of the global population. This year's edition highlights flood risks, warning that climate change and rapid urbanization are intensifying global vulnerabilities.

The Philippines' high vulnerability score reflects its fragmented geography, dense coastal populations, and limited adaptive capacity against extreme weather.

The release of the report also came at the height of tumultuous investigations and mass actions because of allegedly anomalous flood control projects that run in the billions of pesos.