The 10-year average is $121 billion.
(Credit: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Of that, $270 billion was attributed to natural catastrophes and man-made disasters accounted for the remainder.
(Credit: J. Albert Diaz/HS)
Natural catastrophes accounted for $111 billion of those losses. Man-made disasters accounted for $ 8 billion.
(Credit: Photo: AJP/Shutterstock.com)
Swiss Re defines secondary perils as events that occur more regular and typically result in low- to medium-sized losses.
In 2021, primary perils accounted for 27% of insured losses from natural catastrophes, totaling some $30 billion.
(Credit: Scott Saltzman)
Large flood events claimed more than 2,300 victims during 2021, making it the second deadliest peril after earthquakes. The year saw more than 50 severe flooding events.
(Credit: U.S. Department of Agriculture)
Affecting more people globally than any other peril, according to Swiss Re, floods resulted in a combined economic loss of more than $80 billion in 2021. Of those losses, around $20 billion was insured, indicating a large global protection gap.
“Flood was once viewed as an ‘uninsurable’ risk by the private insurance market but improvements in technology and modeling have changed all that,” Matt Junge, head of property underwriting U.S. Regional, Swiss Re, said in a statement. “Over the past few years more than a million homes have been able to purchase flood cover from the private market and the industry stands ready to continue to reduce the insurance protection gap.”
Recurring high losses from floods and other secondary perils, such as wildfires and severe convective storms, have been elevating insured losses during the past five years. Swiss Re defines secondary perils as events that happen relatively frequently, and typically generate low- to medium-sized losses.
The reinsurer reported it doesn’t expect higher loss growth rates to become a new normal, the “regular occurrence of multi-billion insured loss outcomes from secondary peril events is new.” In 2021, Winter Storm Uri and the European floods each caused more than $10 billion in losses.
Overall, secondary perils accounted for 73% of all natural catastrophe-related insured losses during 2021, according to Swiss Re.
The above slideshow reveals more details from Swiss Re’s report “Natural catastrophes in 2021: the floodgates are open.”
