2017 will be record year for industry cat losses: Munich Re
The re/insurance industry will bear record catastrophe losses of $135 billion in 2017 following hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria as well as a severe earthquake in Mexico, according to Munich Re’s calculations.
It also notes that overall losses – including uninsured losses – amounted to $330 billion, the second-highest figure ever recorded for natural disasters. The only costlier year so far was 2011, when the Tohoku earthquake in Japan contributed to overall losses of $354 billion in today’s dollars.
Torsten Jeworrek, Munich Re Board member responsible for global reinsurance business, stressed that the losses demonstrate the importance of the insurance industry.
“This year’s extreme natural catastrophes show how important insurance is in absorbing financial losses in the wake of such disasters. Munich Re is willing to develop this business further – we have the necessary capacity and expertise,” Jeworrek said.
“For me, a key point is that some of the catastrophic events, such as the series of three extremely damaging hurricanes, or the very severe flooding in South Asia after extraordinarily heavy monsoon rains, are giving us a foretaste of what is to come. Because even though individual events cannot be directly traced to climate change, our experts expect such extreme weather to occur more often in future.”
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