BEIJING — China's economic losses from natural disasters amounted to 7.76 billion yuan (about $1.16 billion) in May, down 36 percent from the average during the same period over the past five years, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on June 10.

In May of this year, floods and hailstorms were the major natural disasters in China, while droughts, freezing, earthquakes and forest fires also occurred to varying degrees, the ministry said.

Nearly 6 million people were affected by natural disasters in May, with 49 dead or missing and 92,000 people relocated.

More than 1,000 houses collapsed and 552,500 hectares of cropland were affected by natural disasters, according to the ministry.