In a release published Thursday, reinsurer
Swiss Re said that disasters cost the world economy US$71 billion in the first half of 2016.
The release noted that compared to the same period last year, this year’s disaster cost marked a 38% year-over-year increase. Of the roughly US$71 billion, only US$3.0 billion was attributed to man-made events, with the rest due to natural catastrophes.
Swiss Re’s study also found that the human cost of disasters was far lower for the first half of this year. Some 6,000 people were fatally caught up in disaster events for the first half of 2016, versus the 12,000 for the same period last year.
The study noted that the global insurance industry covered for 44%, or US$31 billion of the disaster-related losses—up 51% from last year.
According to the study, the costliest disasters to insurers for the first half of 2016 were the severe thunderstorm systems that affected parts of the United States and Europe.
In the U.S. alone, three separate severe weather events cost insurers more than US$7.0 billion. A massive storm that struck Texas in April racked up insurance costs of $3.1 billion due in no small part to large hailstones.
Parts of Europe were hit by storms of their own in late May and early June, causing insured losses of up to US$2.8 billion. France and Germany took the brunt of these weather events, experiencing intense lightning storms and flash floods. At least 18 individuals lost their lives from the resulting flooding, reported
zeebiz.com.
In Japan, the earthquakes that hit southern Kumamoto prefecture in April caused US$5.6 billion in insured losses.
Similar tremors in Ecuador led to insurance costs of roughly US$400 million—a considerably smaller figure due to low insurance coverage in the country.
The wildfires that spread across the Canadian province of Alberta led to insurance costs of US$2.5 billion—Swiss Re noted that this incident is one of the costliest wildfire events in all of insurance history.
Related stories:
Morning Brieifng: 6 of 10 most at risk ports are in the US
With $97 billion of uninsured risk, BC municipalities are looking for coverage
