It could be worse when it comes to this year's insured catastrophe-related losses.

That was evident this month as Munich Reinsurance Co. released its estimates for first-half 2012 catastrophe losses. According to the global reinsurer's report, natural catastrophe losses were “relatively mild” during the first six months of this year, totaling about $12 billion.

That's significantly lower than those of the same period of 2011, when the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, New Zealand earthquakes and other disasters helped push the insured loss total to $81.7 billion.

In the United States, Munich Re estimates insured catastrophe-related losses during the first six months of this year totaled $9.3 billion, compared with the $24.4 billion registered during the same period in 2011. The bulk of the U.S. losses—$8.8 billion—stemmed from severe thunderstorm activity, including tornadoes and hail. For example, a hail event in the St. Louis area in late April caused about $1 billion in insured damage. In fact, Munich Re found that the five costliest events during the first half of this year in terms of insured damage globally were all U.S. severe storm and tornado events.

Wildfires fueled by heat and drought caused an estimated $500 million in insured damage in the United States during the first half of 2012, making them the second-costliest peril during the period. A few days after the Munich Re report, the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Assn., which represents property/casualty insurers in Colorado, estimated that the recent Waldo Canyon and High Park wildfires in Colorado caused nearly $450 million in insured personal lines property damage. That made this year's wildfire season to date the costliest in Colorado history, although the estimate did not include insured commercial property damage.

Munich Re noted there were no major earthquakes during the first half of this year. In contrast, last year's Japan earthquake and tsunami caused as much as $40 billion in insured damage, Munich Re found.

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One big unknown going forward is what effect, if any, hurricanes will have this year. Munich Re said 2012 is the first year since 1908 that two named storms occurred in May. Hurricane season officially began June 1 and runs through November. In all, four named storms formed during the first half of this year, two of which made landfall and caused an estimated $50 million in insured damage.

In its report, Munich Re noted that no major hurricane landfall has occurred in the United States since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. That was the same year Hurricane Katrina made landfall and devastated New Orleans, becoming the costliest catastrophe in terms of insured losses—an estimated $62.2 billion—since 1950.