Swiss Re warns insured disaster losses could double in a decade

Overview:

• Insured property losses could double in the next decade due to climate change and more severe weather events.
• Natural disasters caused $280 billion in damage worldwide in 2023, with $108 billion covered by insurance companies.
• Hailstorms are a significant contributor to insured losses from severe storms, with the risk of hail increasing in Germany, Italy, and France.

Quotes:

• The total amount of damage, and the share covered by insurers, both fell compared to 2022, which saw Hurricane Ian—one of the deadliest storms to hit the United States this century—send costs soaring.
• “Even without a historic storm on the scale of Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida the year before, global natural catastrophe losses in 2023 were severe,” said Swiss Re chief economist Jerome Jean Haegeli.
• …the study also found that there were more natural catastrophes causing insured losses in 2023, at a record 142.

Read the full post at phys.org.