ZURICH—Total economic losses and global insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2016 reached US$54 billion, the highest tally in four years. From earthquakes to flooding to wildfires, no region of the globe was spared, according to the Swiss Re Group.

Swiss Re's latest report says there were 327 disaster events last year, of which 191 were natural catastrophes and 136 were man-made. In total, the disasters resulted in economic losses of US$175 billion, almost double the level seen in 2015. For example, the Fort McMurray wildfire across 1.5 million acres produced Canada's biggest insurance loss event ever, and the second costliest wildfire on record globally. More than 2,400 homes and buildings were destroyed in Canada's Albert and Saskatchewan provinces as the fires burned between May and July of '16.

Last year saw a number of severe floods in the US and across Europe and Asia, and a record high number of weather events in the US. The strongest was Hurricane Matthew, which became the first Category 5 storm to form over the North Atlantic since 2007, and which caused the largest loss of life—more than 700 victims, mainly in Haiti—of a single event during the year.

And while news headlines over the past year have been dominated by political events—including the Brexit, for which UK Prime Minister Theresa May launched negotiations on Wednesday—in fact it's extreme weather that poses the top global risk in terms of likelihood. That's the topline finding of the World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2017, which ranked extreme weather events as the most likely risk factor for the first time in 12 years, and Mike Foley, CEO of Zurich North America, blogged recently on the implications for businesses.

“Businesses, in particular, need to be concerned about how an extreme weather event could impact not only their physical assets, but also their employees' homes, their communications systems and their supply chains—both for parts and supplies needed to produce goods and services and for products that need to be delivered to retailers and customers,” Foley wrote. For example, there's the impact on supply chains.

“As supply chains have become longer and more complex, the opportunity for failure at any critical point is greater than ever,” wrote Foley. “Companies tend to lack the detailed information needed to assess supply chain risk.” They can capitalize on opportunities, he added, by building supply chain resilience, “which involves business continuity planning, physical loss prevention and insurance to fund the post-event mitigation.”

Instant Insights /

Global Disaster Losses Hit 4-Year High

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