Keystone-SDA
The 1st half of 2025 represented the most expensive 2nd of all time for insurers, due to fires in California and thunderstorms in the United States, estimates the reinsurer Swiss Re. The annual total of insured claims could exceed forecasts.
(Keystone-ATS) According to a preliminary estimate of the Swiss Re Institute published on Wednesday, global insured damage linked to natural disasters amounted to $ 80 billion (64.6 billion francs) in the first half of 2025. Compared to the same period of 2024, this represents an increase of 29%. Over ten years, the amount of losses has more than doubled on average.
The forest fires that ravaged the County of Los Angeles in January caused assured losses estimated at $ 40 billion, much more than any other loss linked to forest fires never recorded.
Still in the United States, violent thunderstorms totaled $ 31 billion in damage over the first six months of the year. The urbanization of vulnerable areas, the increase in the value of assets and inflation have exacerbated the financial consequences of this meteorological phenomenon. The Swiss Re Institute thus provides for an increase in losses related to this risk over time.
In addition, the magnitude of 7.7 on the Richter scale which struck Burma in March was felt until Thailand, India and China. This disaster has loss of $ 1.5 billion for insurers.
Pessimistic forecasts for the second half
The second semester started with the effects of an important heat dome, which increased temperatures above 40 ° C in Western and central Europe at the end of June, and with forest fires in several countries. In the United States, torrential rains in July caused sudden catastrophic floods in central Texas.
The attention is now focused on the Hurricane season in the North Atlantic. The forecasts announce three to five violent hurricanes in the second half.
Given that 60% of the annual claims insured linked to natural disasters occur in the second half, the coming period remains full of uncertainties, writes the Swiss Re Institute. If the current trend continues, global claims related to natural disasters in 2025 could exceed $ 150 billion.
