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World Insurance Marketplace

Key Facts

According to the Aon 2024 Climate and Catastrophe Insight:

  • For the first time since 2016, no insured losses from any single global event exceeded $10 billion in 2023, according to Aon’s most recent Climate and Catastrophe report. The frequency of events above $1 billion reached 37, breaking the record of 30 set in 2020. This year's trend was primarily due to severe convective storm activity in the United States and Europe.
  • In the United States, there were 89 natural catastrophe loss events in 2023, resulting in 430 fatalities.

World Insurance Losses

Natural catastrophes

Top 10 Costliest World Natural Disasters by Insured Losses, 2023 (1)

(US$ billions)

Rank Date Country/region Event Insured loss (2)
1 Annual U.S. U.S. Drought $6.5
2 Feb. 6-20 Turkey and Syria Turkey and Syria Earthquakes 5.7
3 Mar. 1-3 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 5.0
4 Mar. 31-Apr. 1 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 4.4
5 Jun. 21-26 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 4.3
6 Aug. 8-17 U.S. Hawaii Wildfires 3.5
7 Jun. 10-15 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 3.1
8 Jun. 15-20 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 3.0
9 Jul. 21-26 Europe Severe Convective Storm 3.0
10 May 9-14 U.S. Severe Convective Storm 2.9
All other events       $76.6
Total 2023       $118.0

(1) Natural disasters that cause at least US$25 million in insured losses; or 10 deaths; or 50 people injured; or 2,000 filed claims or homes and structures damaged. Hurricane losses in the United States include National Flood Insurance Program losses. As of January 2024.
(2) Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed.

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

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World Natural Disaster Events Ranked by Number Of Insured Losses, 2023 (1)

 

Rank Peril Insured loss (US$ billions)
1 Severe Convective Storm $70
2 Flooding 13
3 Drought 10
4 Earthquake 7
5 Tropical Cyclone 6
6 Wildfire 5
7 Winter Weather 4
8 European Windstorm 4
9 Other 0
  Total $118 (2)

(1) Natural disasters that cause at least US$25 million in insured losses; or 10 deaths; or 50 people injured; or 2,000 filed claims or homes and structures damaged. As of January 2024.
(2) Chart total and amount cited in text may be different due to rounding by the source, Aon

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Costliest World Natural Disasters By Insured Losses, 1900-2023 (1)

(2023 US$ billions)

Rank Date  Country/region Event Insured loss (2)
1 Aug. 2005 U.S. Hurricane Katrina $102 
2 Sept. 2022 U.S., Cuba Hurricane Ian 56
3 Mar. 11, 2011 Japan 2011 Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami 48
4 Sep. 2017 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Irma 42
5 Aug.-Sep. 2021 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Ida 41
6 Oct. 2012 U.S. Hurricane Sandy 40
7 Aug. 2017 U.S. Hurricane Harvey 38
8 Sep. 2017 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Maria 37
9 Aug. 1992 U.S., Bahamas Hurricane Andrew 35
10 Jan. 17, 1994 U.S. Northridge Earthquake 32

(1) Natural disasters that cause at least US$25 million in insured losses; or 10 deaths; or 50 people injured; or 2,000 filed claims or homes and structures damaged. Losses for hurricanes in the United States include losses for the National Flood Insurance Program. As of January 2024.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. Consumer Price Index.

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Deadliest World Natural Catastrophes, 2023 (1)

 

Rank Date Country Event Deaths
1 Feb. 6-20 Turkey and Syria Turkey and Syria Earthquakes 59,272
2 Aug. 13-27 Europe Heatwave 8,339
3 Jul. 10-30 Southern and Southeastern Europe Cerberus Heatwave 5,949
4 Sep. 4-12 Greece, Bulgaria, Libya, Turkey Storm Daniel 4,730
5 Sep. 8 Morocco High Atlas Earthquake 2,946
6 Apr. 1-Dec. 31 India India Seasonal Floods 2,653
7 Oct. 7-15 Afghanistan Western Afghanistan Earthquakes 1,480
8 Feb. 20-Mar. 15 Southern Africa Cyclone Freddy 1,434
9 Sep. 3-8 Western Europe Heatwave 1,306
10 May 2-5 Democratic Republic of the Congo Eastern DRC Flooding 470
All other events       ~6,400
Total       ~95,000

(1) Natural disasters that cause at least 10 deaths. As of January 2024.

~ =Approximately.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Deadliest World Natural Catastrophes, 1950-2023 (1)

 

Rank Date Country/region Event Deaths
1 Nov. 12, 1970 Bangladesh Cyclone Bhola  300,000
2 Jul. 27, 1976 China Tangshan earthquake 242,769
3 Jul. 30, 1975 Taiwan, China Super Typhoon Nina 230,029
4 Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Basin Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami 226,408
5 Jan. 12, 2010 Haiti Port-au-Prince earthquake 160,000
6 Apr. 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone Gorky 139,000
7 May 2008 Myanmar Cyclone Nargis 138,366
8 Aug. 1971 Vietnam Vietnam floods 100,000
9 Oct. 8, 2005 Pakistan Kashmir earthquake 88,000
10 May 12, 2008 China Sichuan earthquake 87,652

(1) Natural disasters that cause at least 10 deaths. Does not include drought or heatwave events. As of January 2024.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Costliest Global Tropical Cyclones by Insured Losses, 1900-2023 (1)

(2023 US$ billions)

        Insured loss
Rank Date Country/region Event Dollars when
occurred		 In 2023
dollars (2)
1 Aug. 2005 U.S. Hurricane Katrina $65 $102
2 Sep. 2022 U.S., Cuba Hurricane Ian 54 56
3 Sep. 2017 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Irma 33 42
4 Aug. 2021 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Ida 36 41
5 Oct. 2012 U.S., Caribbean, Canada Hurricane Sandy 30 40
6 Aug. 2017 U.S. Hurricane Harvey 30 38
7 Sep. 2017 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Maria 30 37
8 Aug. 1992 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Andrew 16 35
9 Sep. 2008 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Ike 18 26
10 Oct. 2005 U.S., Caribbean Hurricane Wilma 13 19

(1) Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2024.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. consumer price index.

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Costliest Global Severe Convective Storms by Insured Losses, 1900-2023 (1)

(2023 US$ billions)

        Insured loss
Rank Date Country/region Event Dollars when
occurred		 In 2023
dollars (2)
1 Aug. 2020 U.S. Severe convective storm  (includes Midwest Derecho) $9.2 $10.9
2 Apr. 2011 U.S. 2011 Super Outbreak 7.6 10.3
3 May 2011 U.S. Joplin Tornado/Severe convective storm 7.0 9.5
4 May 2003 U.S. Severe convective storm 3.3 5.5
5 Jul. 2013 Europe Storm Andreas 3.8 5.0
6 Mar. 2023 U.S. Severe convective storm 4.9 5.0
7 Mar. - Apr. 2023 U.S., Canada Tornado Outbreak 4.3 4.4
8 May 2019 U.S. Severe convective storm 3.7 4.4
9 Jun. 2023 U.S. Severe convective storm 4.3 4.3
10 Apr. 2016 U.S. San Antonio Hailstorm 3.2 4.1

(1) Includes severe convective storms such as thunderstorms, tornadoes and hailstorms, straight-line winds and flooding that could occur with these storms. Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2024.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. consumer price index.

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Aon.

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Top 10 Costliest Global Wildfires by Insured Losses, 1900-2023 (1)

(2023 US$ billions)

        Insured loss
Rank Date Country Event Dollars when
occurred		 In 2023
dollars (2)
1 Nov. 2018 U.S. Camp Fire $10.0 $12.2
2 Oct. 2017 U.S. Tubbs Fire 8.7 10.9
3 Nov. 2018 U.S. Woolsey Fire 4.2 5.1
4 Oct. 1991 U.S. Oakland (Tunnel) Fire 1.7 3.8
5 Oct. 2017 U.S. Atlas Fire 3.0 3.7
6 May 2016 Canada Horse Creek Fire 2.9 3.7
7 Aug. 2023 U.S. Maui / Hawaii Fire 3.0 3.5
8 Sep.-Oct. 2020 U.S. Glass Fire 3.0 3.5
9 Aug.-Sep. 2020 U.S. CZU Lightning Complex Fire 2.5 3.0
10 Dec. 2017 U.S. Thomas Fire 2.3 2.8

(1) Individual wildfires. Includes losses sustained by private insurers and government-sponsored programs. Subject to change as loss estimates are further developed. As of January 2024.
(2) Adjusted for inflation by Aon using the U.S. consumer price index.

Note: Loss data shown here may differ from figures shown elsewhere for the same event due to differences in the date of publication, the geographical area covered and other criteria used by organizations collecting the data.

Source: Aon.

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