A recent study released by Munich Re indicates that natural disasters in 2021, including hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms and earthquakes, caused worldwide losses that were 21 times greater than those in the previous twenty years. The volume of losses totaled US$ 280 billion. That number was higher when compared to 2020 (US$ 210 billion) and 2019 (US$ 166 billion). On the other hand, insured losses in the previous year totaled US$ 120 billion, surpassing the numbers for 2020 (US$ 82 billion) and 2019 (US$ 57 billion).
The United States accounted for a very significant share of the losses from natural disasters last year – about US$ 145 billion – out of which about US$ 85 billion were insured, according to a study by Munich Re. Hurricane Ida, which devastated the state of Louisiana in late August and early September, was considered the most costly disaster of the year, with global losses of US$ 65 billion (US$ 36 billion in insured losses).
Also according to the German reinsurer, in Europe, flash floods after extreme rains caused losses of US$ 54 billion (46 billion euros). The costliest natural disaster happened in western Germany, where floods destroyed buildings, and serious damage to infrastructure was recorded, especially to bridges and roads.
The images of the natural disasters of 2021 are worrying, according to the member of the Management Board of Munich Re, Torsten Jeworrek. ‘Our societies urgently need to adapt to growing climate risks and make climate protection a priority’, he alerts. Munich Re’s Chief Climate and Geo Scientist, and head of the Climate Solutions Unit, Ernst Rauch, warns: ‘The 2021 disaster statistics are dire because extreme events are likely to become more frequent or more severe as a result of climate change.’