Turkey and Syria Earthquakes Drive Nearly Half of Economic Losses from Global Catastrophes in First Half of 2023

Aon

Global insured losses were fourth highest on record at $53 billion, elevated by U.S. severe convective storms

LONDON, July 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today published its Global Catastrophe Recap: First Half (1H) of 2023, revealing a preliminary estimate of $194 billion in economic losses stemming from global natural disasters. Notably, this is above the 1H average of $128 billion for the 21^st century, the fifth highest on record and the highest since 2011.

The earthquakes in Turkey and Syria during the first quarter of 2023 were responsible for nearly half of the total economic losses, estimated at $91 billion. The event also became the deadliest global disaster since 2010 and the costliest in both countries' modern histories. As a result, economic losses in the EMEA region were unprecedented at $111 billion, far exceeding the previous 1H record of $71 billion set in 1990.

The event showed that regulation and enforcement of modern building codes are of critical importance to prevent material losses and fatalities. Despite relatively strict and modern building codes currently in place in Turkey, structural integrity and performance varied in the affected regions. Many of the collapsed buildings were built relatively recently, with many total collapses of newly built multi-story residential buildings.

"Despite the reality that communities globally remain at risk to catastrophes, only about 27 percent of economic losses this year have been insured. These devastating events reinforce the importance of resilience and the mitigation of risk – such as enforcing building codes, which was highlighted by the Turkey and Syria earthquakes," said Michal Lörinc, head of Catastrophe Insight, Aon. "As we continue to face interconnected risks, we are focused on scaling risk mitigation and helping organizations make better decisions to close the global protection gap and enrich lives around the world." 

While the earthquake event was the costliest from an insurance perspective, severe convective storm (SCS) activity in the United States dominated global losses during this period. In the first half of 2023, U.S. SCS activity was responsible for at least 13 individual billion-dollar events and $35 billion in total preliminary insured losses, setting a new 1H record.