First-half catastrophes cause $70B in insured losses: Swiss Re
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ZURICH—Catastrophes caused $70 billion in insured damage during the first half of this year, according to a report Swiss Reinsurance Co. Ltd. issued Friday.
That was more than double the $29 billion in insured losses sustained during the first six months of 2010, according to Zurich-based Swiss Re.
In fact, 2011 is already the second-most expensive year on record in terms of insured losses, Swiss Re said.
“Additional claims from the ongoing U.S. hurricane season or expensive winter storms in Europe have the potential to bring figures for the full year even closer to the record claims of $120 billion experienced in 2005,” after Hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita, Thomas Hess, Swiss Re’s chief economist, said in the statement.
Claims from natural catastrophes alone reached $67 billion in the first half of 2011 compared with $27 billion in the same period of last year.
First-half economic losses in the disasters were nearly $278 billion, compared with $166 billion in the year-earlier period.
Some 26,000 people lost their lives, most in Japan as a result of the March earthquake and tsunami, Swiss Re said. Other natural catastrophes that struck during the first half of the year included earthquakes in New Zealand and tornadoes in the United States.
“Given the many people who died in Japan and the sad experiences in New Zealand, 2011 will certainly go down as another year of very tragic earthquakes,” Mr. Hess said.
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