Global insurance and reinsurance market losses from natural catastrophe events have already surpassed $100 billion in 2023, making this the sixth year since 2017 that this level of nat cat insured losses has been reached, according to Gallagher Re’s Chief Science Officer Steve Bowen.
Secondary peril events have had a significant impact in insurance markets again this year, with Bowen’s data estimating that 81% of the now over $100 billion of insured catastrophe losses came from these perils.
Posting on Linkedin, Bowen said, “We continue to believe that $100 billion insured loss years is becoming the benchmark moving forward.”
“Perhaps the most interesting part of 2023, thus far, is that we’ve gotten to $100+ billion almost solely driven by high frequency / lower dollar ‘secondary’ events versus low frequency / higher dollar ‘primary’ events,” Bowen added. “In fact, this is one of the few years where we’ve hit $100+ billion without a major ‘primary’ event driving loss costs.”
Severe convective storms (SCS) losses in the United States continue to be the biggest contributor to the global bill, with $56 billion through the start of November, Bowen explained.
He said that it’s actually not that surprising that secondary perils have driven the bulk of losses, as since the year 2000 only three years, 2004, 2005, and 2017, have seen primary perils drive the majority of insured catastrophe losses.
Other years have all seen secondary perils as the main contributor to insurance and reinsurance market losses, as the data below shows, shared by Bowen.
