Last year, property insurers worldwide paid approximately $18.5 billion for losses from 380 natural and man-made catastrophes, according to figures from Swiss Re.
The number of catastrophe-related fatalities was the seventh highest in more than 30 years, Swiss Re noted in its latest sigma report. Of the nearly 60,000 people who died in catastrophes in 2003, more than two-thirds were the victims of December’s earthquake in the Iranian city of Bam.
Total economic losses from catastrophes in 2003 were $70 billion. At an estimated $14 billion, the drought conditions in central, southern, and eastern Europe produced the largest economic loss.
