First quarter cats deliver $15bn insurance bill globally: Aon

The first quarter of 2023 delivered $63 billion in global economic losses from natural disasters, of which insurers will have to pick up a bill for $15 billion, near the ten-year average level, analysts at  Aon have determined.

That $15 billion price tag may be near longer-term averages, but comes as a welcome relief to readings from the prior two years, driven by US storms and a Japanese earthquake in 2021, then European windstorms and Australian flooding in 2022.

“Severe convective storms in the United States were the primary driver” for the 2023 count, with an insured price tag in excess of $5.5 billion, analysts claimed. Events March 1-3 broke the $3 billion mark.

By the bottom line, the US accounted for 58% of Q1 insured losses, ahead of EMEA at 25%.

The EMEA tally was led by Turkey-Syria earthquakes, although the $3.5 billion insurance bill represents a painfully small fraction of the $39 billion in estimated economic losses.

European Windstorms, in turn, had the least costly season since the winter season of 1995/1996.

Add close to $2 billion for New Zealand events, including "unprecedented" weather-related losses within a span of four weeks, including the Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle.

Flooding is the third costliest peril for insurers in Q1 after severe convective storms and the earthquake. Insured losses from flooding will require $2.1 billion in payments, just ahead of the $2.0 billion price tag on winter weather events, the data indicated.

Price tags come with the standard insurer caveat for “robust loss development expected to continue throughout the rest of the year.”

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