Global Insured Catastrophe Losses Fall to $92 Billion, the Lowest Since 2019
Catastrophe Losses dropped to $92 billion, the lowest annual figure since 2019, as insurers assess the financial impact of natural disasters and changing risk exposures.
Catastrophe Losses have fallen to $92 billion globally, reaching their lowest level since 2019. The decline highlights a significant shift in insured losses from natural disasters.
Catastrophe Losses: Global insured losses from natural catastrophes totalled about $92 billion in the first nine months of 2026, the lowest for the period since 2019. Economic losses, which include uninsured damage, reached at least $242 billion, the lowest since 2015, according to Gallagher Re’s Q3 2026 Natural Catastrophe and Climate Report, released on 21 October.
The insured figure is roughly 29% below the 10-year average of $128 billion. The economic total is about a third below its 10-year average of $360 billion. Of the $242 billion, private insurers and public insurance schemes covered around $92 billion.
Catastrophe Losses: Quiet Year for Mega-Disasters, Not for Catastrophe Activity
The reinsurance broker said the number of loss-making events was close to normal. What was missing were the large, concentrated disasters that usually drive annual totals. The third quarter was the sixth in a row without a single event costing insurers more than $10 billion, one of the longest such runs in decades.
The report counted 54 events with economic losses of at least $1 billion and 24 with insured losses of at least $1 billion. Both are near their 10-year averages.
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The costliest insured event was a severe storm outbreak across the central United States between late April and early May, with insured losses above $6 billion. In terms of economic loss, earthquakes in Venezuela and Colombia were the two most expensive events worldwide.
Hurricane activity stayed muted. The first major Atlantic hurricane of the season formed later than any on record. It struck in October, after the reporting period, and is expected to cost insurers a low-to-mid single-digit billion sum. Those losses are not in the $92 billion total.
Global temperatures for the nine months were the second highest on record for the period.
Catastrophe Losses: Severe Convective Storms Still Drive the Claims Bill
Severe convective storms, which include hail, tornadoes and damaging thunderstorm winds, caused nearly 60% of global insured losses in the period. In the US they generated at least $43 billion in insured losses, the fourth straight year the peril has exceeded $40 billion. The US accounted for about 62% of global insured losses so far this year.
Europe recorded at least $9 billion in insured losses from severe convective storms. These included three events with economic losses of $1 billion or more over the summer, among them a late-August outbreak that caused roughly $3.8 billion in insured losses. Drought-related subsidence claims in France could exceed $4 billion.
Extreme heat, drought and wildfires also hit large parts of Europe, North America and Asia.
Gallagher Re cautioned against reading the lower totals as a fall in underlying risk. Its chief science officer said losses stayed below average largely because the industry avoided a concentration of major events. The firm also pointed to inflation, growing exposure and other factors unrelated to hazard severity as continuing pressures on claims costs.
Catastrophe Losses: Strong Capital Heading Into January 2027 Renewals
The benign loss run has supported solid industry earnings and capital positions and left plenty of reinsurance capacity in the market. Property catastrophe reinsurance rates fell by about 16% at the July 2026 midyear renewals, as supply continued to outpace demand.
Attention is now on El Niño. US forecasters put the probability above 81% that it stays at “very strong” intensity into January 2027. It is expected to peak in the final quarter of 2026 and weaken through 2027, with a possible shift to La Niña conditions afterwards. Such shifts can change where weather risks concentrate.
The report looked at the possible impact on agriculture, energy, water resources and global supply chains, as well as the physical, financial and socioeconomic drivers of catastrophe losses. It said insurers and reinsurers will need to review their catastrophe exposures, operational readiness and portfolio management before the 2027 renewal season.
