2011 already the costliest year on record: Munich Re

The $265 billion in economic losses due to catastrophes in the first half of 2011 make it the highest loss year on record, exceeding $220 billion for the devastating year of 2005 as a whole, reports Munich Re.
The loss amount in 2011 H1, arising from an “exceptional accumulation of very severe natural catastrophes,” was more than five times higher than the first-half average for the past 10 years, Munich Re observes.
The insured losses for 2011 H1, about $60 billion, were also nearly five times greater than the average since 2001, despite the fact that there were fewer events in 2011 H1 compared to the 10-year average (355 and 390, respectively).
“First-half losses are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific,” Munich Re’s news release says.
Most of the 2011 H1 losses followed the Honshu earthquake and tsunami on Mar. 11, which caused an overall economic loss of $210 billion.
“The 9.0 magnitude earthquake, the strongest ever registered in Japan, is also the costliest natural catastrophe on record – even more expensive than Hurricane Katrina in 2005, which caused economic losses in the order of $125 billion,” Munich Re says.
“Nevertheless, the currently estimated $30-billion claims burden for the insurance industry will not attain the level of insured losses created by Hurricane Katrina.”