Design Highlights
- Insured losses reached $107-129 billion in 2025, marking a 7% increase from the previous year, highlighting rising climate risks.
- Severe convective storms caused $60 billion in global insured losses, accounting for 47% of total losses in 2025.
- The U.S. experienced a 12% rise in insured losses, contributing $100 billion, representing 78% of global totals.
- Tropical cyclones resulted in $37 billion in losses, with only $6 billion insured, emphasizing coverage gaps.
- Swiss Re warns that climate-driven events are altering risk assessments, necessitating urgent action and awareness of the climate crisis.
Climate-driven insured losses have officially hit an alarming milestone. In 2025, these losses soared to a staggering $107-129 billion, marking the sixth consecutive year that they’ve crossed the $100 billion threshold. It’s a trend that’s hard to ignore. The total economic losses? A jaw-dropping $224-296 billion. Insurance only covered about 36-43% of those damages. So, if you think insurance is a safety net, think again. It’s more like a threadbare blanket.
Climate-driven insured losses hit $107-129 billion in 2025, exposing the fragility of our insurance safety net.
Severe convective storms (SCS) came in hot as the leading cost driver, racking up about $60 billion in global insured losses. That’s a hefty 47% of total insured losses. In the United States, SCS alone caused $42 billion in insured losses from total losses of $56 billion. That’s well above the 10-year average of $29 billion. It’s like we’re in a stormy reality show that just won’t quit. Thirteen out of 23 billion-dollar catastrophe loss events were due to these storms.
In March 2025, severe thunderstorms swept across the central and southern U.S., leading to a whopping $9.4 billion in losses. That’s a lot of rain, folks.
Then there were the wildfires. The Los Angeles-area wildfires in January 2025 triggered around $40 billion in insured losses. Talk about a fiery catastrophe. Combined with floods and storms, they contributed to a total of $166 billion in losses. That’s over the historical average of $136 billion, and wildfires are just warming up. While personal property coverage can protect belongings from perils like fire and theft, floods and earthquakes require separate policies altogether.
Tropical cyclones? They caused about $37 billion in losses, with only $6 billion insured. Hurricane Melissa, for instance, racked up $9.8 billion in losses but only $3 billion were insured. Good thing we dodged major hurricanes in the U.S. this year—or did we?
North America took the cake, with $133 billion in natural disaster losses, of which about $93 billion were insured. The U.S. was the main culprit, contributing $100 billion in insured losses, a 12% jump from the 10-year average. Severe thunderstorms played a big role in that number.
In fact, a staggering 78% of global insured losses came from the U.S. alone. What a record!
As Swiss Re warns, climate-driven insured losses are rewriting risk assumptions. And if you’re not paying attention, it’s time to wake up. The climate crisis isn’t waiting for anyone.
