Swiss Re: Storms and floods cause massive damage worldwide

Hurricane Ian that hit Florida was by far the most expensive event for insurers. Keystone / Cristobal Herrera-ulashkevich

Global insurer Swiss Re says natural disasters resulted in economic losses of $275 billion (CHF254 billion) worldwide last year.

Inflation and accumulation of property assets in exposed areas were main loss drivers, the Zurich-based reinsurance company said on Wednesday.

Around half of the losses caused by natural disasters – some $125 billion – were covered by insurance. This confirms the trend that insured losses increase by an average of 5% to 7 % annually, Swiss Re said.

2022 was the second consecutive year in which insures losses from natural disasters exceeded the $100 billion mark, according to Swiss Re.

Insured losses were fairly consistent with the 2021 figure of $130 billion of insured losses, while economic losses were in fact lower than the previous year’s $303 billion, according to the estimates.

Hurricane Ian

Last year, Hurricane Ian was by far the most expensive event. It hit Florida in September and caused insurance losses of $50 to $65 billion.

A series of storms in northwestern Europe caused over $4 billion in insured losses early last year. France recorded the highest hail losses ever in one year, at $5 billion.

Damage caused by floods were above average worldwide, notably in eastern Australia.

At the same time, crop yields in Brazil, especially for soy and corn, suffered from severe droughts and record heat waves, according to Swiss Re.

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