Storms and floods
Munich Re: Disasters cost over 100 billion globally
Storm damage costs insurers a lot of money. The trend over several years: increasing.
According to the world’s largest reinsurer Munich Re, global natural catastrophe losses will once again exceed the 100 billion euro threshold this year. The third quarter was very badly affected by natural catastrophe damage, said CFO Christoph Jurecka in Munich. As an example, he cited Hurricane Helene, which caused devastation in Cuba, Mexico and several US states at the end of September. 2024 will again be a year with insured natural catastrophe losses of more than 100 billion euros globally.
Overall economic damage will be even greater
This forecast refers to the damage caused by natural disasters that the insurance industry worldwide – not the Munich DAX group alone – is expected to pay. The average trend over the past few decades has been increasing; in 2023, according to Munich Re figures, it was around 120 billion euros. The overall economic losses around the world are much higher every year because many private owners and companies have not insured their buildings and other assets against natural disasters. The “insurance density” is comparatively low in many Asian countries, but high in the USA, so that hurricanes there often result in very high insured losses.
Nevertheless: Munich Re will most likely exceed its profit target
Munich Re itself recorded major losses of 1.6 billion euros in the third quarter alone, partly due to “Helene”. Nevertheless, in Jurecka’s words, it is “almost a given” that the company will exceed its profit target of five billion euros. After the first nine months, net profit already amounted to 4.7 billion euros. High losses are by no means just negative for insurers: demand for insurance protection remains high globally, said Jurecka.
dpa
Source: Stern
