Catastrophe bond issuance breaks Q4 and full year records, market grows 24%: Report

2025 is the year all headline catastrophe bond records fell, and the first time annual issuance exceeded $20 billion, rising by 45% year-on-year to $25.6 billion across full 144A and private transactions we analysed. It was supported by record fourth quarter issuance of over $7 billion, the fifth-largest quarter ever, Artemis’ new quarterly catastrophe bond market report shows.

The Artemis Q4 and Full Year 2025 Catastrophe Bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) Market Report, available to download now, examines the cat bond and related ILS risk capital issued in the quarter and key trends from the record year.

The Artemis Q4 and full year 2025 catastrophe bond and related insurance-linked securities (ILS) market report explores the most active year in the sector’s history, as an impressive and record $25.6 billion of new issuance across full 144A and private transactions took the outstanding market to a record $61.3 billion at year-end.

The final quarter of the record-breaking year saw over $7 billion of new catastrophe bond issuance from 27 transactions comprised of 45 tranches of notes, making Q4 2025 the fifth-largest quarter ever.

The majority of Q4 issuance came from repeat sponsors, although four carriers did enter the market for the first time.

This took the number of new sponsors entering the cat bond market in 2025 to 15, which is another annual record for the space, as insurers and reinsurers increasingly turn to the capital markets to support their reinsurance and retrocession needs.

Remember, all of our interactive catastrophe bond market charts are always kept up-to-date as every new cat bond issuance settles. So you can track the market in real-time with Artemis, the only place with such depth of data available and aligned with the market as it moves through every quarter and year.

Q4 2025 cat bond issuance was driven by more than $6.4 billion of Rule 144A property cat bonds, which, combined with the first nine months of the year, pushed full year 2025 issuance for these types of deals to a record $23.9 billion.

As the new report shows, 2025 is also a record year for total 144A catastrophe bond issuance, so including deals covering other, non-cat risks such as cyber, which totalled $25 billion. Private ILS issuance was also strong this year, although not a record.

In total, the cat bond market achieved outright growth of $11.9 billion, or 24% in 2025 to the aforementioned $61.3 billion, as the huge level of issuance more than offset maturities in the year.

It’s also very impressive that, at the end of 2025, the outstanding market for rule 144A transactions is also above $60 billion for the first time, at $60.7 billion, while the outstanding market for 144A property cat bonds stands at a record $57 billion.

In our brand new report we break down numerous metrics of quarterly and full year cat bond issuance, including triggers, perils, maturities, and pricing dynamics as the market continues to soften from the highs of 2023, but remains very attractive to the growing sponsor and investor base.

Download your copy of the new Q4 and Full Year 2025 Artemis cat bond market report here.

All of our catastrophe bond market charts and visualisations are up-to-date, so include this latest quarter of issuance data.

We will keep you updated on all catastrophe bond and related ILS transaction issuance as we move through 2026, and we’ll report on the evolving trends in the cat bond, insurance-linked securities (ILS) and collateralized reinsurance market.

For full details of fourth-quarter and full year 2025 cat bond and related ILS issuance, including a breakdown of deal flow by factors such as perils, triggers, expected loss, and pricing, as well as analysis of the issuance trends seen by month and year.

Download your free copy of Artemis’ Q4 and Full Year 2025 Cat Bond & ILS Market Report here.

For copies of all our catastrophe bond market reports, visit our archive page and download them all.