Counting the Cost

Turkey-Syria earthquakes: How are the nations’ economies coping?

Reconstruction efforts after earthquakes in Turkey and Syria could cost billions of dollars.

Turkey’s worst earthquakes in nearly a century have killed tens of thousands of people, flattened entire city blocks and wrecked businesses.

Response efforts are shifting to coping with the aftermath and providing shelter, food and medical help to survivors.

The Turkish president has promised to rebuild affected areas within one year. He is allocating more than $5bn for initial disaster relief with cash handouts for families. But business groups say the total restoration bill could exceed $84bn.

The situation in Syria is starkly different to that in Turkey; little international aid has reached parts of the north.

In the wake of the disaster, we look at the effect on the economy in both countries.