BEIJING, Feb. 28-- Marine disasters led to 24 deaths in 2014, the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) said in a report released Saturday.

The death toll marked a sharp decline from the previous year when 121 people died or were reported missing.

Dangerous sea currents killed 18 people, while coastal storm surges led to the death of six, according to the report.

Direct economic losses caused by marine disasters also contracted in 2014, amounting 13.61 billion yuan (2.16 billion U.S. dollars), compared with 16.35 billion yuan in 2013, according to the annual report of the SOA.

Most of the losses were incurred in nine storm surges, according to the report.

Among them, surges generated by super typhoon Rammasun in July, and typhoon Kalmaegi in September were the most destructive, causing direct economic losses of 12.36 billion yuan in the provinces of Guangdong and Hainan, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Both the death toll and the economic losses were below the average of the last ten years, the report said.