Quietest first half for disaster losses since 2006: Impact Forecasting

The first half of 2015 was the quietest first half for global disaster losses since 2006, with insured losses down 47 percent from the ten year average.

This is the finding of Impact Forecasting, Aon Benfield’s catastrophe model development team, in the latest edition of its global catastrophe report.

In the first half of 2015, economic losses hit $46 billion, down 58 percent from the ten year average of $107 billion, and insured losses were $15 billion, down 47 percent from the ten year average of $28 billion.

The percentage of global economic losses that were covered by insurance was 31 percent, slightly above the ten year average of 27 percent. This was because the majority of the losses occurred in regions with higher insurance penetration.

Steve Bowen, associate director and meteorologist with Aon Benfield's Impact Forecasting team, said: "The first half of 2015 was the quietest on an economic and insured loss basis since 2006. Despite having some well-documented disaster events in the United States, Asia Pacific and Europe, it was a largely manageable initial six months of the year for governments and the insurance industry.

“Looking ahead to the rest of 2015, the continued strengthening of what could be the strongest El Nino in nearly two-decades is poised to have far-reaching impacts around the globe. How that translates to disaster losses remains to be seen, but something to keep a close eye on in the coming months."