2011 A Year of Unprecedented Losses

"I remain a big fan of tracking insurance losses, especially natural hazard-related, as a way of tracking the tectonic changes (literally) in our world.

An exceptional accumulation of very severe natural catastrophes makes 2011 the highest-ever loss year on record, even after the first half-year. Already, the approx. US$ 265bn in economic losses up to the end of June easily exceeds the total figure for 2005, previously the costliest year to date US$ 220bn for the year as a whole. Most of the losses were caused by the earthquake in Japan on 11 March.
Altogether, the loss amount was more than five times higher than the first-half average for the past ten years. The insured losses, around US$ 60bn, were also nearly five times greater than the average since 2001. First-half losses are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific. The total number of loss-relevant natural events in the first six months of 2011 was 355, somewhat below the average for the previous ten years 390..."

at http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2011/07/2011-a-year-of-unprecedented-losses.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+InfectiousGreed+%28Paul+Kedrosky%27s+Infectious+Greed%29