How much of total working hours will be lost globally by 2030 due to heat?

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Global Working Hours Lost to Heat Stress by 2030

By 2030, it is projected that 2.2 per cent of total working hours globally will be lost due to higher temperatures, a figure that is expected to be more than double in severely affected regions like western Africa and southern Asia. This loss translates into significant economic repercussions, amounting to 1.4 per cent of the global gross domestic product, equivalent to US$2.4 trillion (RM9.9 trillion).
Projected Working Hour Losses

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that by 2030, the cumulative impact of rising temperatures will result in a 2.2 per cent reduction in total global working hours. This percentage represents a substantial economic burden, with the ILO describing it as a conservative estimate based on a scenario of global warming limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The report, "Working on a warmer planet: The impact of heat stress on labour productivity," highlights that this loss is roughly equivalent to the economic output of the United Kingdom.
Sectoral Impact of Heat Stress

The agriculture sector is anticipated to bear the largest share of these working hour losses, accounting for approximately 60 per cent of the global total by 2030. This is due to the nature of agricultural work, which often requires prolonged exposure to outdoor conditions. Following agriculture, the construction sector is also projected to be heavily impacted, with an estimated 19 per cent of all working hours lost due to heat stress over the same period. These figures underscore the vulnerability of outdoor and physically demanding industries to increasing global temperatures.
Regional Disparities in Impact

The regions expected to suffer the most severe consequences are western Africa and southern Asia, where the percentage of lost working hours due to heat is predicted to more than double the global average. The ILO report emphasizes that individuals in the world's poorest regions will experience the greatest economic losses and the most significant impact on their working capacity. This disparity is likely to exacerbate existing economic disadvantages in these vulnerable areas, highlighting the uneven distribution of climate change's effects on labour productivity.

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How much of total working hours will be lost globally by 2030 due to heat?

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