Coastal Flooding and Wealth in Asia and the Pacific

Coastal regions in Asia and the Pacific concentrate economic activity while facing intensifying flood risk, yet who is most exposed—and how exposure relates to local wealth—remains poorly understood. Combining satellite-derived wealth estimates at 5 km and 500 m resolution with projected coastal inundation maps under multiple scenarios across 10 countries, we find that coastal areas are on average 0.75 standard deviations wealthier than inland areas—a broad based dividend spanning urban and rural communities. Within coastal zones, however, flood exposed populations are 0.26–0.39 standard deviations poorer than their neighbors. This aggregate masks sharp heterogeneity: Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar face a persistent double burden of deprivation and exposure while the wealth gap in Cambodia worsens under high emissions. In the Philippines, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Pakistan, exposure increasingly concentrates in wealthier areas. Climate risk and socioeconomic dynamics are thus intertwined in country-specific ways, reshaping who is most vulnerable as emissions rise.