The World Bank revealed that the two major earthquakes that rocked Turkey on the sixth of February caused direct material damage amounting to about $ 34.2 billion, but the total costs of reconstruction and recovery facing the country may be double that.
“According to the bank’s estimates, the two earthquakes will also cut at least half a percentage point from Turkey’s expected GDP growth this year, between 3.5% and 4%,” Humberto Lopez, director of the World Bank’s Turkey office, told reporters.
Anna Berdy, World Bank Group Vice President for Europe and Central Asia, said the situation in Syria, which was also affected by the earthquake, was “truly catastrophic” and the bank would issue a separate damage assessment for Syria.
She added that the initial rapid assessment of damages in Turkey, amounting to $ 34.2 billion, is equivalent to about 4% of its economic output in 2021, but that did not include the indirect or secondary consequences for the growth of its economy or the most recent earthquake that occurred a week ago.
“Our experience says that reconstruction needs can range between two and three times the estimated direct material damage,” she said.
