Weather, climate & catastrophe insight: 2017 annual report
This report evaluates the impact of the natural disasters and extreme weather events that occurred worldwide during 2017 and provides an overview of global economic losses. The report reveals that there were 330 natural catastrophe events in 2017 that generated economic losses of USD353 billion – of which 97 percent (USD344 billion) was due to weather-related events, including Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in the US and Caribbean, plus Typhoon Hato in China and Cyclone Debbie in Australia. For historical context, 2017's natural catastrophe losses were 93 percent higher versus the 2000-2016 average. Insured losses to the private sector and government-sponsored programs were among the costliest ever incurred, reaching USD134 billion in 2017 – just behind the record USD137 billion in 2011.