Extreme storms and other natural disasters cost the world around 250 billion dollars in damages last year, of which less than half, 95 billion dollars, was actually covered by insurers, according to data compiled by Munich Re and released on Tuesday.

In a report published by the newspaper Negócios, the German reinsurance giant said that although the economic losses in 2023 may not seem extraordinary, they mark another year of records and "extremely high" damage. The number of deaths caused by natural disasters has risen to 74,000 in 2023, well above the annual average of the last five years (10,000). After years of relative calm, a series of devastating earthquakes has led to humanitarian disasters.

Around 63,000 people (85% of the year's total fatalities) lost their lives due to these geophysical hazards in 2023 - more than at any time since 2010. By contrast, economic losses from natural disasters were dominated by severe storms: 76% of global losses were climate-related, while 24% had geophysical causes.

The series of earthquakes in south-eastern Turkey and Syria in February was the most destructive natural disaster of the year. Around 58,000 people died, countless buildings collapsed and infrastructure suffered significant damage. With global losses of around 50 billion dollars, it was also the most expensive natural disaster of the year.

The second most expensive natural disaster was Typhoon Doksuri. In July, the storm passed over the coast of the Philippines before hitting Jinjiang, China, with winds of around 180 km/h. Doksuri was accompanied by extremely heavy rains that caused destructive flooding. The overall damage amounted to around 25 billion dollars, of which only around 2 billion dollars was covered by insurance.

The loss statistics were characterized by the large number of severe regional storms. Never before have such high storm losses been recorded in the US or Europe. The reinsurer says that assets worth around 66 billion dollars were destroyed in North America, of which 50 billion dollars were insured, while in Europe the figure was 10 billion dollars, of which 8 billion dollars were insured.

"The year 2023 was once again characterized by extremely high insured losses due to natural disasters, even though there were no extreme individual losses. This underlines the important role that insurance plays in mitigating the consequences of natural disasters. Comprehensive data and in-depth knowledge of risk changes remain key factors in designing coverage to protect people against natural disasters. Another important aspect is prevention. The number of victims of this year's devastating earthquakes is a wake-up call to ensure better protection for people by adapting construction methods," comments Thomas Blunck, Member of the Board of Management of Munich Re.