Bill Alpert

As natural disasters continue their 21st century rise, the first half of 2025 was the costliest on record for the U.S. Los Angeles wildfires, Midwest tornadoes, and Mississippi floods caused over 100 fatalities and $125 billion in losses. All that was before the July floods in Texas.

This year's $126 billion in U.S. natural-disaster losses through June were triple the century's $41 billion average for the period, says a report this week from the insurance broker Aon. Worldwide, there were $162 billion in losses during 2025's first half, also above the century average of $141 billion. Aon counts all disasters that cause at least $25 million in losses, 10 deaths, or 5o injuries.

More of the world's first-half losses were caused by insurance this year, because so many of them occurred in the U.S., where insurance use is high. Insured losses for the six months probably topped $100 billion, says Aon, with 90% of that in the U.S. As claims come in, those numbers could rise. The world average for first-half insured losses this century is $41 billion.

"In 1H 2025 there was a lowering of the global insurance protection gap due to the high levels of coverage for U.S. events," said Michal Lörinc, the head of Aon catastrophe studies, in a press release.

Notable natural disasters around the world included a drought in Brazil, June windstorms in Europe, and an earthquake centered in Myanmar that caused $12 billion in economic loss and killed nearly 5,500 people.

Earthquakes aside, the warming atmosphere and ocean are driving many of these disasters. The first half 0f 2025 saw $44 billion in U.S. tornado losses -- the third-highest on record, only behind 2023 and 2024. Cyclone Alfred in March was the first cyclone to hit Australia's populous Queensland coast since 1974, causing around US$900 million in damage.

The Birch Glacier's collapse in Switzerland erased most of the village of Blatten in May. Other Swiss towns have suffered recent landslides. "Climate change is accelerating Alpine glacier retreat, increasing the risk of collapses like the Birch Glacier event," said Aon's report.

Looking ahead this year, the average forecast for the June-to-November Atlantic hurricane season is for about 15 named storms (which are those with winds above 40 miles an hour), and eight hurricanes (above 75 mph).

Like most of the unhappy events tallied by Aon, that's above average.

Write to Bill Alpert at william.alpert@barrons.com

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July 17, 2025 13:50 ET (17:50 GMT)

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