2011 the costliest natural catastrophe year on record: Munich Re

A large number of weather-related events and earthquakes made 2011 the costliest ever year in terms of natural catastrophe losses, reported Munich Re.
Global economic losses tallied up to US $380 billion, nearly two-thirds higher than in 2005, the previous record year with economic losses of US$220 billion.
Insured losses of US $105 billion also exceeded the 2005 record of $101 billion.
Of the 820 loss-relevant events, 90% of the recorded natural catastrophes were weather-related. But nearly two-thirds of economic losses and half of the insured losses stemmed from geophysical events, principally from large earthquakes.
“Normally, weather-related natural catastrophes are the dominant loss drivers,” a Munich Re release says. “On average, over the last three decades, geophysical events accounted for just under 10% of insured losses.”
In North America, the bulk of the losses stemmed from a series of tornadoes that stormed through the midwest and southern United States, causing $25 billion in insured losses ($46 billion in economic losses).
Losses from North Atlantic hurricanes were moderate, but this was “purely by chance,” Munich Re reported.
The number of tropical cyclones (18) in the year was well above the long-term average (11). But the number that made landfall, especially on the U.S. coast, was very low.
“Only three named storms, one of them Hurricane Irene, made landfall in the United States,” Mnich Re observed. “Irene caused economic losses in the Caribbean and U.S. totalling $15 billion, $7 billion of which was insured.”