Damage from last month’s floods is likely to cost the countries that made up the former Yugoslavia more than the war in the 1990s, but insurance losses will be low due to limited penetration of flood cover.

More than 50 people have been killed across Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and economic output will fall this year following damage to infrastructure, agriculture and transport.

The European Union and agencies such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are giving aid, while the bank says it will work with authorities to develop flood protection systems.

The flooding is the worst on record but the bank says mitigation “will help reduce the risk of such widespread damage in the future”.