Insurance Sector Losses in 2023 Driven by Destructive Thunderstorms, Munich Re Says
09 January 2024 - 6:59PM
Dow Jones News
By Pierre Bertrand
Natural disasters caused around $250 billion in damages in 2023,
amounting to $95 billion in insurance losses, according to Munich
Re's latest assessment of the sector's losses caused by natural
catastrophes.
The German insurer's report said that overall losses in the last
year were in line with the previous year's tally, while insured
losses declined compared with $125 billion previously.
Overall losses fell within the five-year average but insured
losses came in slightly under their $105 billion five-year average
and slightly above the $90 billion ten-year average, according to
Munich Re.
Munich Re said that the losses were driven by a large number of
regional storms which caused damages on both sides of the Atlantic
and were more destructive in North America and Europe than ever
before.
Thunderstorms destroyed assets worth around $66 billion in North
America and $10 billion in Europe, the report said, adding that
combined insured losses came to $58 billion.
The insurer added that losses from such storms in North America
and other regions are trending upward and that 2023 was the hottest
year on record.
The single costliest events of 2023 were the series of
earthquakes which struck the southeast of Turkey and Syria in
February, Typhoon Doksuri which struck China in July and Hurricane
Otis which hit Mexico in October.
Write to Pierre Bertrand at pierre.bertrand@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 09, 2024 02:44 ET (07:44 GMT)
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