2014 sees lowest insured catastrophe losses in five years

For the second consecutive year, insured losses caused by natural catastrophes were down on their 10-year averages, according to a new report.

Article Extracted from IBO 2015.01.15

Insured losses from catastrophes hit their lowest total since 2009 with a 38 per cent decrease on the 10-year average according to the latest findings from Aon’s Impact Forecasting.
According to their Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report, insured losses for 2014 topped out at $48 billion globally compared with the ten-year average of $77 billion.

Overall economic losses were also down from the ten-year figure of $260 billion to $163 billion, a 37 per cent decrease.

Stephen Mildenhall, CEO of Aon Analytics, noted that “global insured property catastrophes accounted for 8.6 per cent of global property premium in 2014, compared to a 10-year average of 13.9 per cent.”

“The secular increase in catastrophe losses since 1980, which is broadly in-line with global GDP, continues to be an engine of growth for the insurance industry. With its abundant capital and sophisticated risk management tools, the industry is better positioned than ever to deliver on its core mission of providing critical risk transfer products that enable growth and development all around the world."

Associate Director and Meteorologist at Impact Forecasting, Steve Bowen, said of the findings: "Despite 27 individual billion-dollar natural disasters in 2014, overall economic losses were below average for a second consecutive year.

“The most significant losses were found in Asia, where the region sustained 57 per cent of the overall economic loss and each of the top five costliest events.”

Article Extracted from IBO 2015.01.15