Page 18 - Turkinsurance Digital Magazine

18 cover story

In the first quarter of 2024,

natural disasters caused a $45

billion economic loss

According to the Global Natural Disasters Report published by Aon, total economic

losses due to significant disasters in the first quarter of 2024 exceeded $45 billion,
with global insurance losses estimated to reach at least $17 billion.

The first quarter of 2024 saw several notable disaster events, which severe convective and winter storms in the United States, as well as
drove total year-to-date economic losses above $45 billion. This was windstorms and flooding in Europe, and the earthquake in Japan.
lower than the 21st-century Q1 average of $59 billion and signifi- It is worth noting that these estimates are expected to evolve and
cantly lower than losses in the first quarter of 2023 ($149 billion). should be considered preliminary. The insurance protection gap for
The costliest event of the first three months was the Noto Earth- the first quarter can be estimated at 64 percent. While earthquake
quake in Japan, which occurred on the very first day of the year and became the costliest peril of the first quarter from the economic loss
resulted in economic losses of $17.6 billion, according to govern- perspective as a consequence of the Noto event in Japan, severe con-
mental estimates. Insured losses reached at least $17 billion and vective storms and winter storms drove insured losses due to higher
were slightly above the average. Among the major loss drivers were insurance coverage of such events, particularly in the United States.