Global - 2015 global Nat CAT insured losses at US$35 bln is lowest since 2009 - Aon
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Feb 2016
Insured losses for global Nat CATs in 2015 was US$35 billion, which is 31% lower than the 15-year average of $51 billion, and the lowest annual insured loss total since 2009, according to Aon’s Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report.
The report also said that 300 separate global natural disasters occurred in 2015, compared to the 15-year average of 269 events, and the costliest event for insurers was a February winter storm that impacted much of Eastern US and resulted in public and private insurance payouts of more than $2.1 billion.
The top 10 insured loss events in 2015 comprised four US severe thunderstorm outbreaks, one US winter storm, one US wildfire, one US drought, one European windstorm, one severe flooding in the UK, and one typhoon in Japan. No region of the world sustained aggregate insured losses above its 15-year average in 2015, though EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas (non-US) were all above their respective medians.
Meanwhile, global economic losses from Nat CATs in 2015 stood at $123 billion – 30% below the 15-year average of $175 billion. There were 14 multi-billion dollar economic loss events around the world, with the costliest being forest fires that burned out of control in Indonesia. The World Bank noted that the economic loss from the fires ($16.1 billion) represented 1.9% of the country’s GDP.