Disaster losses of $21 billion in first half of 2014 below previous 10-year average: Swiss Re

Insurance carriers covered $21 billion in natural catastrophes and man-made disasters during the first half of 2014, Swiss Re Ltd. reported Wednesday.

“According to preliminary sigma estimates, total economic losses from natural  catastrophes and man-made disasters reached ($44 billion) in the first half of 2014,” Swiss Re said in a release, adding that the “global insurance industry” covered $21 billion of those losses, down from $25 billion in the first half of 2013. All figures are in United States dollars, which closed at nearly $1.10 Canadian Tuesday.

The average loss, for the first half of the year, was $27 billion in the previous 10 years.

Quoting from Verisk Analytics Inc.’s Property Claims Services unit, Swiss Re noted there were $2.6 billion in insured losses from thunderstorms in the United States last May, when several storms produced hail over a five-year period.

Swiss Re’s release Wednesday include “all latest updates to source data” made by Aug. 14.

Quoting from its own estimates and from national insurance associations, Swiss Re reported $2.5 billion in insured losses from Storm Ela, which brought hail and strong winds to France, Germany and Belgium in June.

Other major catastrophe losses in the first half of 2014 included $2.5 billion from a snow storm in February in Japan and $1.7 billion from a January snowstorm in the United States, which affected areas of the east and south. Quoting from Swiss Re and PCS estimates, Swiss Re estimated there were $1.1 billion in insured losses from thunderstorms and tornadoes in May, also in the United States.

“Once again floods took lives and inflicted extensive property damage in several regions of the world in the first half of 2014,” Swiss Re stated. “For example, in May heavy flooding in Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and other eastern European countries resulted in total economic losses of USD 4.5 billion. However, with low insurance penetration, the associated insured losses were moderate.”

More than 4,700 lives were lost due to natural catastrophes and man-made disasters during the first half of 2014.

Total economic losses from the snowstorm in Japan were estimated at $5 billion, while the hail storms in the U.S. in May produced estimated economic losses of $3.2 billion. Estimated economic losses from last January’s snow storms in the U.S. were $2.5 billion, Swiss Re said.