MUNICH RE REPORTS HEAVY INDUSTRY WEATHER LOSSES IN H1

Severe weather in areas with high insurance penetration in the first half of the year meant that natural catastrophe figures were poor for insurers, even though economic losses were below average, according to a Munich Re analysis. Insured losses for the half came in at $11bn, above the average for the past decade, even though the economic losses of $25bn were significantly below average. Munich Re warned that cat losses were normally lower in the first half of the year because they excluded nearly all hurricane-related losses. Munich Re counted 380 natural catastrophe losses worldwide in the first half, more or less in line with the recent average. The 3,000 deaths recorded was well-below average. Winter Storm Klaus, which struck north-east Spain and south-west France at the end of January, is the costliest natural catastrophe this year thus far, generating insured losses of about $2.3bn out of economic losses estimated at $3.8bn. Although the Italian earthquake in early April caused an estimated economic loss of $2.5bn, the insured loss was low at just $260m. The bushfires that his Australia in January/February caused economic losses of about $1.3bn.