Flood Losses Dominate First-Half Nat Cat Losses

Flood events in Europe, Canada and Australia accounted for three of the five costliest natural catastrophes for global insurers in the first-half of 2013.

On Tuesday Munich Re said inland floods in Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic in May/June this year had cost insurers an estimated $3.9 billion so far, while total economic losses will be more than $16 billion. The majority of the insured losses occurred in Germany.

This tally makes the European floods the most costly natural disaster in the first half of 2013.

Floods in the Calgary region of Canada June 20-23 caused more than $1 billion in insured losses and more than $3 billion in overall losses, Munich Re noted. This was the worst flood in documented Canadian history.

Loss estimates are still in progress on both the European and Canadian flood events. Munich Re said:

Around 47 percent of the overall losses and 45 percent of the insured losses derived from inland flooding that occurred in Europe, Canada, Asia and Australia.”

Two thunderstorm events in the United States also ranked in the top five costliest natural catastrophes for insurers in the first six months of 2013.

Altogether, worldwide insured losses from natural catastrophes totaled around $13 billion in the first-half, well below the 10-year average of $22 billion. At around $45 billion, total economic losses were also below the 10-year average of $85 billion.

The Wall Street Journal has more on this story.

The complete overview of natural catastrophe activity for the first-half of 2013, jointly presented by Munich Re and the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is available here.

Check out I.I.I. facts and statistics on flood insurance and global catastrophes.