FRANKFURT: The number of people who died in natural catastrophes worldwide increased sharply in the first six months of this year, according to the world’s leading reinsurer Munich Re.

“The review on the natural catastrophes for the first half of 2015 was characterised by the earthquake in Nepal and by the heatwave that affected India and Pakistan,” Munich Re said in a statement.

“Some 12,000 people fell victim to these two natural catastrophes. In the first half of the year, a total of over 16,000 people died in severe weather events and earthquakes,” it said.

“This means that, by the end of June, the number of people who lost their lives in natural catastrophes was much greater than in the previous year (2,800)....” In economic terms, however, the overall losses and insured losses were below the long-term average values, Munich Re calculated.

The total losses incurred in the first half of 2015 were $35 billion, whereas the average value for the last 30 years was approximately $64bn when adjusted for inflation.

Insured losses for the year so far amounted to $12bn compared to a long-term average of $15bn.

“The natural catastrophes in the first half of the year show us once again that vulnerability to natural catastrophes needs to be reduced, particularly in emerging and developing countries,” said board member Torsten Jeworrek.

“This is necessary first of all to ensure people are better protected, but also to keep losses as low as possible,” he said.

Among the main natural catastrophes worldwide for the first half of the year was a massive earthquake in Nepal on April 25, where 8,850 people were killed, and many cultural heritage sites were destroyed.

“It was not just the natural catastrophe with the largest number of fatalities in the first half of the year, but also the most grievous event in terms of overall losses. These totalled $4.5bn, of which only $140 million was insured,” Munich Re said.

The costliest natural catastrophe for the insurance industry was a series of winter storms that struck the United States and Canada at the end of February. The insured loss was $1.8bn, with total losses of $2.4bn.

Published in Dawn ,July 15th, 2015

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