Munich Re research published to coincide with COP 31 in Türkiye has found that weather-related disaster losses accounted for a higher average share of national income in 13 of the 20 countries studied over the past decade than in the first decade of the analysis.
The global reinsurer compared losses from weather-related disasters, including floods, storms, hail and wildfires, with gross national income (GNI) in 20 selected countries over 40 years, from 1986 to 2025.
The sample included selected major industrialised economies and middle-income countries. Munich Re calculated annual disaster losses as a share of GNI, then averaged these ratios over five-year periods.
In 13 of them, average annual losses as a share of GNI were higher over the past decade (2016-2025) than in the first decade studied (1986-1995).
These countries are Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the United States and COP 31 host Türkiye.
The relative loss burden was also particularly elevated in the most recent five-year period (2021–2025), when eight countries recorded their highest five-year average loss-to-GNI ratio on record: the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Canada, Spain, Italy and Brazil.
The United States recorded the highest ratio of losses to GNI of any country analysed in 2021-2025, with weather-related disasters costing more than 0.5% of GNI per year on average.
Given the size of the world’s largest economy, Munich Re said this translates into substantial economic losses every year.
Tobias Grimm, Chief Climate Scientist, Munich Re, added, “A small percentage of national income can sound abstract, but behind these figures are damaged homes, businesses and infrastructure worth billions of dollars. Prevention and adaptation can reduce damage before it occurs, while insurance can help households, businesses and economies recover from losses that cannot be prevented.”
Munich Re’s research also looked at insurance coverage. Across the 20 countries combined, the share of recorded weather disaster losses that went uninsured fell from roughly two-thirds in 1986-1990 to half in 2021-2025 on average.
However, the change was not continuous, and the aggregate is reportedly shaped by where major disasters occurred, so it does not show a uniform improvement in insurance coverage or affordability. Even in the latest period, around half of losses remained uninsured.
The global reinsurer concluded, “Prevention and adaptation play a different but complementary role. They can reduce physical damage and, where effective, support insurability. Strengthening prevention and adaptation, reducing exposure and vulnerability, and improving financial protection are therefore important elements of disaster resilience.”
