natural disaster

At $54 billion global insured catastrophe losses in 2016 were the highest since 2012, driven by earthquakes, severe weather, flooding, and tropical cyclones, according to Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe risk-modelling unit of reinsurance broker Aon Benfield.

Natural catastrophe losses have soared to a four year high after devastating earthquakes and powerful storms shook the globe in 2016, lifting insured catastrophe losses for the year to $50 billion, according to Munich Re.

Insurance and reinsurance industry losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disaster events during 2016 are expected to come out at around $49 billion by Swiss Re, up by 33% on 2015 but slightly below the 10-year average.

Economic losses from natural and man-made catastrophe events in the first-half of 2016 totalled an estimated $71 billion, of which $31 billion, or roughly 44% was insured, an increase of 51% compared to the prior year, says reinsurance giant Swiss Re.

The first-half of 2016 has seen both insured and economic natural disasters come in above the long-term average, with the insurance and reinsurance industry on the hook for $30 billion of a total $98 billion economic impact, according to Aon Benfield.

Global reinsurer Munich Re has revealed that global, total losses from catastrophe events in the first-half of 2016 amounted to $70 billion, of which $27 billion was insured. Both overall and insured losses were above the inflation-adjusted average for the last 30 years, says Munich Re.

The past week is set to result in another economic loss of over $1 billion, due to severe convective and thunderstorm weather in the U.S., where the resulting strong winds and hail, with insurance industry losses in the hundreds of millions, according to Aon.

The insurance and reinsurance industry is set to find itself paying for an estimated $2 billion of losses due to severe thunderstorm, or convective storm, weather and resulting hail damage and floods in March, according to broker Aon.

In 2015 only $37 billion or 40% of global catastrophe and man-made disaster losses were covered by insurance and reinsurance, according to Swiss Re, representing a coverage gap of 60% and presenting an opportunity to the industry.

According to reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter the twin effects of El Niño and the North Atlantic Oscillation were key drivers of climate in 2015, but even with these effects the insurance and reinsurance industry only suffered $30.5 billion of industry losses.