Natural catastrophes in Asia, 500 billion USD of damages in ten years

Magazine Issue:

Africa, Middle East: great moves in the reinsurance business [3]

Magazine date:

Dec 2015

Nearly 1.4 billion people are living in the Asia Pacific region, an area of the planet which is particularly exposed to natural catastrophes.

It is vulnerable due to the variety of events that occur in that region and to the poverty of a large number of its inhabitants. Booming urbanization coupled with the State’s disengagement from prevention efforts have increased the risks.

According to a recent report published by the UN, 1625 natural catastrophes have been reported in this region during the last ten years, that is 40% of the total number of events having affected the entire planet. Nearly 500 000 people have lost their lives during the same period while economic losses have been estimated at 500 billion USD. The levels of exposure reported today justify the urgency to increase the insurance penetration rate.