Economic cost of heat waves higher in India than the rest of the world

More productivity loss expected than elsewhere as temperatures rise

India stands to lose more working hours to extreme heat than the rest of the world, in addition to the humanitarian cost of extreme heat events.

Around a dozen people died of heatstroke after attending a government function in Maharashtra on Sunday, with hundreds hospitalised. India stands to lose around six per cent of its working hours to extreme heat events by 2030, more than double then 2.2 per cent seen in the rest of the world, shows an analysis of data from the International Labour Organization (ILO). It is less than one per cent in both China and the