Malta might be chock-a-block with dangerous drivers and dodgy construction sites, but our chances of getting hurt in a natural disaster are next to nil, an international report has found.

The World Risk Report 2015 has ranked Malta the second-safest place in the world to live when it comes to natural disasters, with only the gulf state of Qatar enjoying a lower disaster risk.

Countries are ranked using an index that takes into account a country’s likelihood of experiencing a natural disaster as well as its infrastructure in being able to cope and recover from one.

Malta ranked well in each of the World Risk Index’s criteria, though geographical good fortune in not being exposed to natural disaster risks played the biggest part in bringing our estimated disaster risk down to just 0.62 per cent.

Our good fortune stands in stark contrast to that of many other island nations. Of the 15 most at-risk nations, six are islands like Malta. The remaining nine are also close to the sea.

The Pacific island state of Vanuatu is the worst-off. It consistently ranks first on the World Risk Index, and this year was no different, with a score of 36.72 per cent meaning it ranked as the world’s most dangerous place to live for natural disasters.

Hurricane Pam, which hit Vanuatu in March 2015 and has been described as the worst disaster in the country’s history, confirmed the World Risk Index’s misgivings. But the report authors were at pains to drive home the point that the index “is not a crystal ball: it does not purport to predict extreme natural events.”

The CPD conducts an earthquake simulation exercise.

This painful truth was driven home by the earthquake that struck Nepal in April 2015. Nepal ranked 138th in the world when it came to the risk of being exposed to a natural disaster, but that didn’t stop the quake from killing almost 9,000 people and causing billions of dollars worth of damage.