The economic toll of climate-related disasters is now measured in hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and it is climbing above the long-run average. 

But the headline cost hides a deeper unfairness in who actually bears it.

TL;DR

• Natural disasters caused about $320 billion in losses in 2024, of which around $140 billion was insured.
• Weather-related events accounted for 93% of total losses and 97% of insured losses.
• Both figures were well above the inflation-adjusted 10-year and 30-year averages.

The loss figures here come from reinsurer Munich Re, with disaster data drawn from NOAA and EM-DAT.

ALSO READ: The World’s Biggest Carbon Emitters, Three Ways

The rising bill

In terms of insured losses, 2024 was the third most expensive year since 1980.

In 2025, losses totaled around $224 billion, of which insurers covered about $108 billion, joining a growing list of years with insured losses above $100 billion.

Individual events drove much of it: Hurricane Helene caused the largest overall loss of 2024 at $56 billion. 

Why the insurance gap is the real story

The total loss figure hides who actually pays. 

In wealthy countries, much of the damage is insured, so households and insurers absorb it. In poor countries, almost nothing is. 

In some regions, only just over 5% of losses were insured, meaning families and governments bear the full cost of recovery themselves. 

This is why the same disaster can be a financial setback in a rich country and a development catastrophe in a poor one.

North America accounted for roughly $133 billion of 2025’s losses, driven by the Los Angeles wildfires and severe storms. 

Canada recorded its highest disaster losses since 1980 in 2024. The core markets carry the biggest absolute bills, but they are also the most insured, which is exactly the protection the world’s poorest countries lack.

ALSO READ: How Much the Planet Has Actually Warmed

ELI5

Storms, floods, and wildfires now cost the world hundreds of billions of dollars every year, and the total is rising. 

In rich countries, insurance covers a lot of the damage. In poor countries, almost none of it is covered, so people there lose everything.

Sources

Munich Re | Munich Re (2) | Yale Climate Connections