Insurance think tank the Geneva Association says although the global death toll from fires is trending down, fire safety is often taken for granted in building developments.

Its agency the World Fire Statistics Centre says fire causes tens of billions of dollars in losses annually and kills thousands of people.

The agency says fire costs around 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in most developed countries, but prevention receives far less attention than the cost of crime or road accidents.

Australia’s losses from fire average 0.08% of GDP, while New Zealand’s losses are 0.11%, according to the association’s latest research.

It says this compares with an average of 0.13% across 18 developed economies, including Japan, the US and Europe.

Australian direct losses from fire in 2008 were $990 million, while New Zealanders incurred losses of $NZ180 million ($138 million) in 2007.

Australia’s death toll, at 0.48 per 100,000 people, is below the average of 0.98 from 26 developed countries surveyed, and New Zealand’s rate is 0.75.

The average cost of fire-fighting organisations in 15 nations, as a proportion of GDP, is 0.15%. Both Australia and New Zealand recorded an average cost of 0.16%.

The association says Singapore’s low costs probably reflect efficient coverage of a small, compact territory, while low Danish figures might reflect the success of the privately owned Falck fire services, which is responsible for fire services in roughly 65% of municipalities and whose expenses are kept down by combining them with ambulance, road breakdown and rescue services operating from the same buildings.

High Japanese costs partly reflect widespread fire prevention activities, which help to keep down losses.