NATURAL DISASTERS COST ECONOMIES US$313B, AON SAYS

Natural disasters caused global economic losses of US$313 billion in 2022, insurance broker Aon estimated, of which less than half was insured. Losses from natural catastrophes covered by the insurance sector amounted to US$132 billion, 57 per cent above the 21st-century average, it added, leaving a global ‘protection gap’ of 58 per cent. Yet, while the number of catastrophic events rose — at least 421 individual events compared to an average of 396 since 2000 — Aon said the protection gap was one of the lowest on record. “It was relatively low due to the fact that many of the costliest disasters occurred in countries with mature insurance markets such as U.S. or Europe, whereas losses in less-covered regions such as Asia were well below average,” said Michal Lörinc, head of catastrophe insight at Aon.