Natural disasters cost $36B in economic losses in 1H 2018, Swiss Re estimates
The global economic loss total is significantly less than it was at this time last year.
New data from Swiss Re estimates that catastrophes in the first half (1H) of 2018 resulted in $36 billion in total global economic losses. This number is significantly less costly than last year’s total of $64 billion in 1H 2017, and well below the average.
The report states that of this $36 billion in global losses, natural disasters accounted for $34 billion, while the remaining $2 billion in losses were a result of man-made disasters.
Of this $36 billion, Swiss Re analysts say $20 billion was covered by insurance. Last year, insurance covered $30 billion of the total $64 billion in 1H 2017.
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Assessing the damage
Breaking down the cost of 1H 2018′s international catastrophes, a series of winter storms in the U.S. and Europe caused the largest economic losses so far this year.
Specifically, Winter Storm Friederike in Europe was the costliest event in the first half of 2018. The storm caused significant losses in Germany and the Netherlands, although France, Belgium and the UK were also impacted. Swiss Re Institute’s sigma estimates the total economic losses at $2.7 billion. Approximately $2.1 billion of these losses were insured.
In the U.S., several storms brought heavy snow, ice, freezing rains and flooding from snowmelt and coastal flooding, causing total economic losses of $4 billion, including $2.9 billion in insured losses. March’s Nor’easter storm was the largest loss for the insurance industry in the U.S. in 1H 2018, which resulted in $1.6 billion in claims.
Globally, about 3,900 people lost their lives or went missing in disaster events, compared to approximately 4,600 for the same period in 2017.
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