The Egyptian Insurance Federation confirmed that global insurance losses resulting from natural disasters in 2023 were estimated at about $118 billion, which is much higher than short-, medium- and long-term averages.
The Federation added in its weekly bulletin that only 31% of global economic losses were covered by private or public insurance, which is close to the normal rate in the long term, and this represents a noticeable decrease after 2022, in which more than 42% of the total losses were covered. The protection gap is the lowest it has ever been. Many major disasters around the world caused significant uninsured damage, the costs of which had to be covered by local governments.
It showed that nearly a quarter of the total economic losses in 2023 are attributable to the series of catastrophic earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria, which struck the region in February. It noted that the widespread impact on property and infrastructure resulted in direct damage exceeding $90 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster recorded in modern history in Turkey, Syria, the Middle East, Europe and the entire Africa.
She explained that at least 4 other events represent the economic damage threshold of $10 billion, as China reported total flood damage exceeding $30 billion again, after a below-average loss in 2022, while the devastating Hurricane Otis made landfall at Category 5 strength. Near Acapulco, Mexico, it was recorded as the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
She explained that drought prevailed in North and South America, while 3 events of severe convective storms occurred that were classified among the 10 largest individual economic losses for the year 2023, and none of them exceeded 10 billion dollars.