Swiss Re: 2022 catastrophe losses total $268B
The trend in recent years has been for catastrophe losses to increase by 5% to 7% annually, the reinsurer reported.
International economic losses from natural and manmade catastrophes combined were $268 billion in 2022, according to the Swiss Re Institute’s annual estimates, and that figure is significantly higher than the 10-year average of $81 billion.
Insured losses were $122 billion, the reinsurer said. This was the second year in a row that estimated insured losses swelled past $100 billion. The trend in recent years has been for catastrophe losses to increase by 5% to 7% annually.
“Demand for insurance is growing as the protection gap remains vast,” Swiss Re Group Chief Underwriting Officer Thierry Léger said in a press release about the data. “To enable the insurance industry to keep up with increasing volatility and demand, it will be key to model evolving frequency and severity trends. Pricing needs to reflect the effective risk.”
Insurers and reinsurers covered roughly 45% of the economic losses from 2022’s catastrophes, according to Swiss Re.
A notable portion of 2022’s catastrophe losses were created by Hurricane Ian, which was the costliest single event of the year and the second costliest for insured losses in history, Swiss Re said. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 has the dubious honor of being the most costly catastrophe in history.
Swiss Re said insured losses from Hurricane Ian were roughly $50 to $65 billion. These figures are slightly more conservation than the Hurricane Ian losses reported by some other risk modelers.
“In an otherwise benign hurricane year,” the reinsurer reported, “this highlights the threat potential of a single hurricane hitting a densely populated coastline.”
The year also confirmed the dangerous potential of secondary perils, such as the torrential rainfall in Australia earlier in the year that led to widespread flooding. “Urban development, wealth accumulation in disaster-prone areas, inflation and climate change are key factors at play, turning extreme weather into ever rising natural catastrophe losses,” said Swiss Re’s Head of Catastrophe Perils Martin Bertogg.
The reinsurer noted that these loss estimates are preliminary and exclude claims related to COVID-19.
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