Hurricane Ian and other extreme weather events, including winter storms, flooding and hailstorms, resulted in over $260 billion in total economic losses in 2022, making it the second consecutive year in which losses attributed to natural disasters totaled more than $200 billion, and continuing the trend of a 5% to 7% average annual increase over the past decade.

According to findings by Swiss Re Institute, 2022 saw weather-related insured losses of $122 billion and total economic losses of $268 billion. The most economically significant natural disasters of 2022 include:

• Hurricane Ian, a category 4 hurricane that made landfall in western Florida in September, incurring insured losses of $50 to $65 billion. 
• A series of winter storms that hit Europe in February, sustaining insured losses of nearly $4 billion.
• Torrential rains that plagued Australia in February and March and created widespread flooding, resulting in $4 billion in damages.
• A number of small-to-medium sized hail and thunderstorms in the U.S., and the most severe series of hailstorms ever seen in France, totaling insured losses of over $5 billion.

“Extreme weather events on every continent have led to high insured losses in 2022, turning extreme weather into ever-rising natural catastrophe losses,” notes Martin Bertogg, Head of Catastrophe Perils at Swiss Re. “When Hurricane Andrew struck 30 years ago, a $20-billion loss event had never occurred before. Now there have been seven such hurricanes in just the past six years.”