A break in the weather

The first half of 2018 was relatively untroubled by catastrophic events

So far, 2018 hasn’t exactly been unmarred by catastrophes – heatwaves have a­fflicted many corners of the globe, providing an ideal environment for the wildfires that ripped through Greece, California and parts of Canada. Both Europe and Australia have been hit by drought – NSW is experiencing its driest year since 1965 – and Hurricanes Florence and Michael brought more devastation to the US coastline.

Yet the first half of 2018 was comparatively quiet for catastrophes on a global scale – not only are losses lower than the same period last year (US$36bn compared to US$64bn), but they’re also well below the 10-year average of US$125bn. Natural catastrophes accounted for US$34bn of total economic losses worldwide, while man-made disasters made up the remaining US$2bn.