Floods in BiH and Europe cost insurance companies 4.5 billion dollars

Total economic losses from natural and other disasters in the first half of 2014 amount to 44 billion dollars, according to preliminary estimates by the Swiss reinsurance company, the second largest in the world, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

On the other hand, the global insurance industry alone incurred costs of 21 billion dollars, which is still below the long-term average compared to previous years. Natural disasters cost insurance companies 19 billion dollars, and man-made disasters an additional 2 billion dollars. The severe winter in the United States slowed the American economy and caused a loss of 2.5 billion dollars in the insurance industry. The floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and other Eastern European countries caused losses of 4.5 billion dollars.

The most expensive insurance cases recorded in the first half of this year include 2.6 billion dollars for damages from the May storm and hail in the United States, and 2.5 billion dollars for each country hit by the devastating storm Ela in June (France, Germany, and Belgium) and the Japanese snowstorm in February.

As stated, more than 4,700 people died from disasters in this period.

The largest loss of 116 billion dollars was recorded by insurance companies in 2011, when the devastating earthquake in Japan alone caused losses of about 35 billion dollars, reports Patria.