Insured cat losses for H1 $70bn and second highest on record—Swiss Re

The $70bn figure is more than double the figure of $29bn for the first six months of 2010. Claims from natural catastrophes alone reached $67bn in the first half of 2011, compared to $27bn in the same period of last year.

This figure was only surpassed in 2005 when total catastrophe claims amounted to $120bn, when hurricanes Katrina, Wilma and Rita caused claims of over $90bn of global insured catastrophe losses.

The catastrophes for the first half of this year caused total economic losses of almost $278bn.

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Thomas Hess, Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, said: “Given the many people who died in Japan and the sad experiences in New Zealand, 2011 will certainly go down as another year of very tragic earthquakes. In terms of catastrophe claims, 2011 is already the second costliest year in history for the insurance industry. Additional claims from the ongoing US hurricane season or expensive winter storms in Europe have the potential to bring figures for the full year even closer to the record claims of $120bn experienced in 2005.”