Earthquakes in Turkey and Syria - This Year's Costliest Natural Disasters

In 2023, earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, along with wildfires in Hawaii and other natural disasters, caused more than $100 billion in losses that were covered by insurance. This is less than the previous year but still higher than usual, according to the insurance company Swiss Re.

The costliest natural disasters of the year were the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria that occurred in February, causing significant damage.

Even though the total insured losses for 2023 are estimated at $108 billion, which is a 23 % decrease from $141 billion in 2022, it still marks the fourth consecutive year that losses exceeded $100 billion.

This estimate is one of the first provided by a major insurer for the year. The total economic losses from natural disasters, including those not covered by insurance, were around $269 billion, a 9 % decrease from 2022.

Due to the increasing number of disasters, insurance companies have been raising their rates, and in some places, they have stopped offering coverage. Most of the losses, both insured and total, were caused by natural disasters.

At Quantectum, we issued a short report on February's Turkey and Syria earthquake, which is available here.