Floods and storms in Australia: heavy cost for insurers

According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), local insurers have received 787 984 claims related to storm and flood damages during the period between 1 January 2020 and 30 November 2022. The estimated total cost of the claims exceeded 12.3 billion AUD (8.3 billion USD).

The floods alone, which occurred in the States of New South Wales and Queensland, between February and March 2022, have accounted for nearly 46% of the damages, which amounts to 5.65 billion AUD (3.8 billion USD). This is the costliest disaster in Australia's history. Its cost surpassed that of the 1999 hailstorm in Sydney.

Over the past three years, while the eastern states have been heavily affected by floods, South and Western Australia have been severely hit by storms and cyclones.