Swiss Re pegs 2022 insured nat cat loss tally at $115 bn and counting

Insurers have suffered $115 billion in insured natural catastrophe losses to date in 2022 with a month left to go on the counter, analysts at  Swiss Re Institute have estimated.

“2022 is the second consecutive year in which the estimated insured losses total more than USD 100 billion, continuing the trend of a 5–7% average annual increase over the past decade,” authors claimed.

The $115 billion sum is 5% off the 2021 tally of 121 billion, but well above the previous ten-year running average of $81 billion, Swiss Re Institute data suggests.  Total economic losses from the nat cat events likely came to $160 billion, down 11%from the $292 billion in the year prior.  Both figures are well above the $207 billion prior ten-year average.

“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,”

Swiss Re’s head of catastrophe perils Martin Bertogg said.

Hurricane Ian leads the list with an estimated insured loss of USD 50–65 billion, but secondary perils including flood and hail storms have added over $50 billion to the tally, “yet again affirming their significant contribution to the global total.”

Key on the list, February winter storms in Europe prompted estimated insured losses of over $3.7 billion, “bringing this key peril back on the insurance industry's agenda.” Torrential rains in Australia in February and March add ca. $4 billion to the tally, qualifying as the country's costliest-ever natural catastrophe.”  Hail storms in France rendered an estimated €5 billion, according to Swiss Re Institute.

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