48% of economic losses from disasters in the Asia region

Total economic losses for Asia from disaster events in 2016 were $83 billion, more than any other region of the world, according to Swiss Re. The losses in Asia represented 48% of global economic losses from disaster events in 2016. There were 327 disaster events globally last year, of which 191 were natural catastrophes and 136 were man-made. The events resulted in economic losses of $175 billion, almost twice the total of 2015. The most destructive event in Asia was the magnitude-7.0 earthquake that hit Kyushu Island in southern Japan, close to the city of Kumamoto on 16 April 2016. The quake resulted in 137 deaths and 2,000 injuries with over 8,500 buildings destroyed and an estimated 160,000 buildings being damaged. Between $25 billion and $30 billion of losses were attributable to the disaster, of which $4.9 billion were insured. Insured losses in Asia grew less than 20% year-on-year to $8.8 billion in 2016, taking the total protection gap in the region to around $74 billion (or 89% of economic losses, up from around 80% in 2015). Other notable events were the number of floods in China, the most devastating along Yangtze River basin last July. Economic losses were estimated at $22 billion, making it the costliest Yangtze River flood event since 1998. With low insurance penetration, however, insured losses from the 2016 floods were just $0.4 billion. In China, total economic losses from all disasters stood at roughly $40 billion in 2016, with close to 97% uninsured.