Natural disasters left 1,432 people dead and 274 others missing nationwide in 2016, according to a statement jointly released by several departments.
The most notable disasters last year included floods, typhoons and hail, the statement said, adding that drought, earthquakes, low temperatures, snowstorms and forest fires were also reported.
Natural disasters caused a total of 503.29 billion yuan (about 72.98 billion U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses and forced the relocation of over 9.1 million people, it said.
In addition, over 521,000 houses were toppled and another 3.34 million were damaged to varying degrees. The disasters affected about 26.62 million hectares of farmland, with more than 2.9 million hectares destroyed, according to the statement.
