Death toll in natural catastrophes high in first half of 2015

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 that lost their lives in natural catastrophes was much greater than in the previous year (2,800), but also far lower than the average for the past 30 years (27,000)."

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 (31.7 billion euros), whereas the average value for the last 30 years was approximately $64 billion when adjusted for inflation.

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