Economic losses due to disasters in 2011 reached unprecedented heights. The low-income populations in the developing countries are still the main victims of natural disasters.Extreme weather persisted for long periods, even becoming a normal phenomenon in many regions.In 2011 the disasters that attracted the most global attention were the Japanese nuclear plant accident and the East African drought and famine. With respect to trends in global disasters, flood and tropical cyclones caused fewer deaths but more economic losses, and countries faced a range of emerging risks associated with extremely low-probability hazards, such as volcanic eruptions or extreme weather. Droughts became more frequent and widespread. Some progress, including more participation and higher scores was made to the Hyogo Framework for Action assessment. There is also more international cooperation to reduce disasters, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. In the near future global society should put more focus on hunger and malnutrition. <<