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A national flood-risk profile puts a price on every year of delay — and shows that USD 380 million of defences pays for itself within nine year 160,000 people affected by floods each year under current conditions USD 168m in annual losses across buildings, roads and agriculture USD 620m annual losses under the pessimistic climate pathway, over 3× today 9 years to break even on Scenario 3 defences, costing USD 380 million USD 1.44bn savings over 30 years from Scenario 5, extended nationwide Lack of data often hampers efforts to persuade key decision-makers that preventing disasters is cheaper than fixing the havoc they wreak. It can be hard to justify investing limited budget resources in prevention when the benefits of doing so, and, more importantly, the costs of not doing so, remain unquantified. In line with its wide-ranging efforts to help governments across the world invest before disasters strike, UNDRR worked with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire to develop a national flood-risk profile that quantifies risk, compares protection options and demonstrates the economic returns of prevention. This profile is accessible via an interactive online platform. Floods regularly cause fatalities, destroy homes and roads, and exacerbate food insecurity in Côte d'Ivoire. A long rainy season running from April through July generates seasonal flooding across southern and central regions, compounded by unplanned urban expansion into flood-prone areas. Under current conditions, floods affect close to 160,000 people in these regions and cause an estimated USD 168 million in losses across urban buildings, roads and agriculture. Agriculture is particularly exposed. The sector employs 53.5 per cent of the Ivorian workforce and drives 16.5 per cent of GDP, with key export crops vulnerable to flood damage. If greenhouse gas emissions continue rising without new mitigation efforts (the “pessimistic” climate pathway), annual losses to the sector caused by floods are projected to more th