Natural disasters worldwide caused an estimated US$131 billion in total losses during the first half of 2025, according to a new report from Munich Re.
Of that total, approximately US$80 billion was insured. While down from the inflation-adjusted US$155 billion in overall losses recorded during the same period in 2024, insured losses rose significantly from last year's US$64 billion.
The figures remain well above the 10- and 30-year inflation-adjusted averages, with 2025 posting the second-highest first-half insured losses on record after 2011.
Weather-related events accounted for 88% of total losses and 98% of insured losses. Earthquakes made up the remaining 12% and 2%, respectively. Munich Re data shows that insured losses in H1 2025 were more than double the long-term average.
Separately, Munich Re has maintained its €6 billion (approx. US$6.3 billion) net profit target for the year despite the severity of catastrophe losses in the first half. The reinsurer said it expects claims from the California wildfires to remain within its existing natural catastrophe reserves.
The most costly single event of the period was a wildfire outbreak in the Los Angeles area, which resulted in US$53 billion in total losses, with US$40 billion insured. The event marked the highest wildfire-related losses ever recorded, nearly doubling the global wildfire losses from 2018.
Munich Re highlighted that the fires occurred during Southern California’s winter, which is typically the rainy season. Limited rainfall in late 2024, combined with strong winds and ample flammable vegetation, created conditions that rapidly intensified the blazes.
According to Tobias Grimm, Munich Re’s chief climate scientist, a longer wildfire season and the frequent overlap of drought and wind are raising the potential for large-scale fire events.
“This means that two accelerants, drought and strong winds, coincide more frequently. Then all it takes is just one spark in the wrong place for disaster to strike,” Grimm said.
The January wildfires alone consumed nearly 39% of the group’s annual catastrophe loss budget. Industry-wide, the event is estimated to have produced insured losses ranging between €20 billion and €30 billion, underscoring the scale of impact from what is typically considered an off-season peril.
Temperature data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicates that the average global temperature for the first half of 2025 was 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels, making it the second-warmest first half of any year on record. Research cited by Munich Re suggests that climate change continues to influence the frequency and severity of weather-related disasters.
Outside the US, the second-costliest disaster was a 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar on March 28, which resulted in approximately 4,500 fatalities and US$12 billion in economic losses. Insured losses were minimal. The quake struck near the cities of Sagaing and Mandalay, with ground motion felt as far as Bangkok. Soil conditions in the Thai capital amplified the effects of the shaking.
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