Swiss Re has released its preliminary sigma estimates, estimating total economic losses from natural and man-made disasters in 2017 at $306 billion, the third highest on record. This 2017 estimate is a tremendous increase from $188 billion in 2016.

Global insured losses from catastrophes in 2017 are estimated to be $136 billion, the third highest on sigma records; and 2017 is also the second costliest hurricane season on sigma records after 2005. The U.S. was hit the hardest, with historic losses from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria.

More than 11,000 lives were claimed in catastrophe events this year.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Danielle Ling

Danielle Ling is an experienced video journalist and business reporter. As associate editor, Danielle manages all multimedia and reports on industry news and risk-related coverage, managing all weather-related content. A University of Maryland and Philip Merrill College of Journalism alum, Danielle previously served as a video journalist for Verizon FiOS 1 News NJ, Push Pause. Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn or email her at [email protected].