The insurance industry should be prepared to withstand $171 billion in insured catastrophe losses, on average in a given year, up $19 billion from a year ago, according to Verisk.
In its highest estimate reported to date, the data analytics and technology provider said the
industry’s loss benchmark increased despite the fact that the U.S. in 2025 had no hurricane landfalls for the first time in a decade.
The rise reflects continued growth in property values and insured values worldwide, Verisk added.
“A quiet hurricane season can lead markets to respond as if risk has eased: rates soften, insurers keep more risk on their own books, and more capital competes to w
rite new business,” said Rob Newbold, president of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions, in a statement accompanying the report. “But 2025 reminds us that t
he underlying risk landscape has changed and years without significant losses from U.S. hurricane activity no longer signal a quieter catastrophe environment.”
Verisk explained that a year without a U.S. landfalling hurricane can lull the market toward thinner pricing and looser underwriting terms, “precisely when discipline matters most.”
“The $171 billion figure is not determined by the outcome of one hurricane season or one year of catastrophe losses,” according to Dr. Jay Guin, executive vice presid
ent and chief research officer of Verisk Catastrophe and Risk Solutions. “It reflects a wide distribution of potential events across perils and regions, using current e
xposure data and a view of hazard grounded in the near-present climate. That broader perspective helps the industry prepare for loss scenarios that historical experience alone may not reveal.”
New Normal for Global Insured Cat Losses
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For the sixth straight year, global insured catastrophe losses exceeded $100 billion — a result driven not by severity perils like earthquakes and hurric
anes, but by record-setting wildfires and significant severe thunderstorm activity, which produced widespread hail, wind and tornado damage across many comm
unities rather than a single catastrophic event. (Editor’s note: These frequency perils are also known as secondary perils.)
“A more dynamic risk environment underscores how catastrophe models help insurers maintain underwriting discipline and make informed pricing, capital allocat
ion and risk transfer decisions based on the full range of risk, not just the outcome of a single season,” Newbold added.
