Swiss Re’s sigma on natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2011unveils USD 116 billion in insured losses and record economic losses of USD 370 billion

· Last year saw the highest economic losses in history, at USD 370 billion
· The insurance industry weathered 2011 soundly despite experiencing the second-largest insured losses ever, at USD 116 billion
· 2011 also brought the highest insured earthquake losses, at USD 49 billion
· Flooding in Thailand resulted in the highest insured losses ever for a single flood event, at USD 12 billion

Swiss Re’s latest sigma study reveals unprecedented economic losses of USD 370 billion from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2011. Despite immense insured losses of USD 116 billion (a 142% increase over the previous year) arising from record earthquake and flood losses, the insurance industry weathered the year well and played a key role in risk management and post-disaster recovery financing.

Please find the whole sigma publication on Swiss Re's website: https://www.fanews.co.za/secure/CMS_Editor/scripts/www.swissre.com/sigma

Link to the video interview: sigma co-authors Lucia Bevere and Jens Mehlhorn discuss the implications of these catastrophic events on society and on the insurance industry, with a special focus on the textbook case of the Thailand flooding. www.swissre.com/sigma/podcast_sigma.html