2024 catastrophe losses not too bad so far, Aon says

From scorching heat waves to a head-spinning number of tornadoes (just in time for Twisters), the year already seems to be brimming over (we mean that literally for some areas) with severe weather. Of course, severe weather can mean severe damages to and disruption of business as usual.

But economic losses from catastrophes in the first half of 2024 weren’t that bad, considering what the world has experienced in recent history, according to a new report from Aon.

The insurance brokerage giant’s impact forecasting team estimated first-half losses from global natural disasters at $117 billion, which is lower than the 21st century H1 average of $137 billion and “significantly lower” than the $226 billion in losses over the same period in 2023.

First-half insured losses stood at approximately $58 billion, which is above the century average of $39 billion but lower than the $60 million-plus in insured losses seen in the first half of the last three years.

Better yet, the insurance protection gap—which is the difference between uninsured and insured losses—has fallen to 50%, “one of the lowest on record for 1H” and largely due to insurance payments covering severe storms in the US. According to the report, US natural disasters made up nearly 80% of global insured losses, at almost $46 billion.

“It is great to see a lowering of the global protection gap, which is a result of the high levels of insurance coverage for the SCS [severe convective storm] events observed in the first half of 2024,” Michal Lörinc, head of catastrophe insight at Aon, said in a news release. “However, the re/insurance industry needs to continue its efforts to increase levels of insurance in emerging markets, through provision of not just capital and capacity, but also advanced data and analytics, which help to qualify and quantify the risk, and ultimately shape better decisions.”

For the remainder of 2024, Aon experts expect that a busy hurricane season and more severe storms in the US and Europe will continue to drive up economic and insured losses.

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