Worldwide, the damages from natural disasters have continued to rise in 2024, reaching around $320 billion, with approximately $140 billion insured, according to Munich Re on Thursday. In 2023, the figure, adjusted for inflation, was $268 billion.
The total damages and the insured damages are significantly above the average values of the past 10 and 30 years (total damages: 236/181 billion US dollars; insured damages: 94/61 billion US dollars). Measured by the insured damages, 2024 was the third most expensive year, while in terms of total damages, it ranks fifth since 1980.
Weather-related disasters caused 93 percent of the total damages and 97 percent of the insured damages in the year. Around 11,000 people lost their lives in 2024 due to natural disasters, a significantly lower number than in previous years.
The damages caused by so-called non-peak perils such as flooding, severe thunderstorms, or wildfires were again very high. They accounted for total damages of $136 billion, of which around $67 billion was insured. This was lower than the previous year’s record of 143 billion US dollars, but still significantly above the average of the past 10 years (inflation-adjusted 110 billion US dollars/48 billion US dollars). Notably, non-peak perils are showing a trend of increasing damages over the long term, while peak risks such as tropical storms or earthquakes are responsible for fluctuating damage levels.
Tropical storms alone contributed $135 billion to the total damages and $52 billion to the insured damages in the previous year. The majority of this was due to strong hurricanes in the US (105 billion US dollars, of which 47 billion US dollars was insured).
The double blow in September/October with the two storms “Helene” and “Milton” in the US caused the highest damages. The largest economic loss from natural disasters in 2024 was caused by Hurricane Helene, with $56 billion in damages, of which around $16 billion was insured. The main reason for the high damage was not the destructive wind speed of 225 km/h, which the Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Florida with, but the widespread flooding and storm surges that affected states north of Florida, such as Georgia and North Carolina, after the storm moved inland.
Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida two weeks later with a wind speed of 200 km/h, was less destructive in terms of wind but caused the highest insured damage of the year at $25 billion, despite narrowly missing the Tampa metropolitan area. It brought a strong flood wave to the southwest coast of Florida and left a damage trail across the state, resulting in a total damage of $38 billion.
The third most expensive natural disaster of the year in terms of total damages was an earthquake in Japan on New Year’s Day 2024. It struck the western coast of Japan near the less populated Noto Peninsula with a magnitude of 7.5. Many buildings collapsed, thousands of people were left without power and water for weeks, and over 200 people lost their lives. The estimated total damage was around $15 billion, with around $2.5 billion insured.
The natural disaster with the highest death toll was Typhoon Yagi. Around 850 people lost their lives as it swept through the Philippines, the Chinese island of Hainan, the southern tip of the Chinese province of Guangdong, Vietnam, and Myanmar in September. At landfall in China, Yagi had wind speeds of the second-highest typhoon category 4. For Vietnam, it was the strongest typhoon since the beginning of local records. With total damages of $14 billion, Yagi also ranks among the costliest disasters of the year, with only a small part, around $1.6 billion, insured.