France vs United States: Global number of reported disasters by size per decade
France
18 events
in 2020
United States
20 events
in 2020
France rank
3rd
United States rank
1st
Global number of reported disasters by size per decade over time
- France
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 20 events against 18 events in France, a difference of 2 events.
That makes United States's figure about 1.1 times France's.
The two have swapped places 4 times across 13 shared years of data; in 1900 it was United States ahead.
France ranks 3rd and United States ranks 1st of 156 countries.
Across the 13 decades both report, France averaged higher in 2 and United States in 6.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | France | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0 events | 0 events | 0 events | — |
| 1910s | 0 events | 0 events | 0 events | — |
| 1920s | 0 events | 0 events | 0 events | — |
| 1930s | 0 events | 0 events | 0 events | — |
| 1940s | 0 events | 0 events | 0 events | — |
| 1950s | 0 events | 1 events | 1 events | United States |
| 1960s | 1 events | 0 events | 1 events | France |
| 1970s | 1 events | 2 events | 1 events | United States |
| 1980s | 4 events | 11 events | 7 events | United States |
| 1990s | 9 events | 37 events | 28 events | United States |
| 2000s | 25 events | 46 events | 21 events | United States |
| 2010s | 17 events | 15 events | 2 events | France |
| 2020s | 18 events | 20 events | 2 events | United States |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher global number of reported disasters by size per decade, France or United States?
- United States, at 20 events against 18 events in France as of 2020.
- What is the difference in global number of reported disasters by size per decade between France and United States?
- 2 events, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for France and United States?
- 13 years are reported by both, from 1900 to 2020.
- How do France and United States rank globally for global number of reported disasters by size per decade?
- France ranks 3rd and United States ranks 1st of 156 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- EM-DAT, CRED / UCLouvain (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Global number of reported disasters by size per decade. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Reported disasters that result in no more than 5 deaths, affect no more than 1,500 people, and cause economic damages not exceeding 13 million current US dollars. The economic threshold for previous years is adjusted for inflation accordingly.