A study conducted by the Cyprus Institute found that Cyprus could suffer between €2.3 billion and €3.8 billion in losses by 2050 should no heat-protective measures be implemented at worksites to address increasingly intense heat.
This study is "the first one using Cypriot data to estimate the economic damage caused by lost work hours due to extreme heat,” said professor Theodoros Zachariades, one of the study’s authors.
He added that "the cost to the economy will be large as the intensity and duration of very hot days increase in the coming years," warning that "the impact on the most vulnerable and exposed workers in Cyprus may also be severe and require adaptation measures to monitor and protect workers’ health and performance."
At the same time, the study also projected a rise in the number of days outdoor work must be suspended due to unsafe heat conditions.
Researchers combined climate and biological data to calculate heat stress indicators for jobs of various intensity and sun exposure, focusing on workers in the construction, agriculture and tourism sectors.
The findings showed that compared to the years between 1980 and 2020, workers who perform moderate and high-intensity labour will increasingly face unsafe conditions due to the extreme heat.
By 2030, outdoor labourers are expected to suffer a loss of a total of nine days yearly, while by 2050, that number will rise to 27 lost days due to heat.
The researchers estimated that reduced economic output could result in losses of approximately €101 million in 2030, or 0.4 per cent of GDP, and €303 million in 2050, or 0.7% per cent of GDP.
As such, cumulative losses by 2050 are projected to reach between €2.3 billion and €3.8 billion, or about 0.5 per cent of Cyprus' cumulative GDP over the 2026-2050 period, should no heat-protective measures be introduced in the workplace.
