PERILS AG, an independent provider of catastrophe insurance data, has released its 2025 Industry Exposure Database (IED), which now includes market exposure data for severe convective storms (SCS) across Europe, Japan, and New Zealand.
The updated database encompasses insured property assets with a total value of US$108 trillion, spread across 67 market portfolios in 21 countries. The countries include major markets such as the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Japan. For the first time, SCS-related exposures have been broken down to include both property and motor hull coverage - a key loss contributor during such storm events.
At constant US dollar exchange rates, insured asset exposure has increased by 3.9% year-on-year. However, due to the dollar’s strengthening throughout 2024, the reported exposure figure actually reflects a 2.8% decrease when using variable exchange rates, PERILS noted.
The impact of inflation also appears to be stabilising, with European windstorm sums insured rising by 3.4% at constant euro exchange rates and 4.0% at variable euro exchange rates. PERILS stated that these figures mark a return to growth rates observed before 2023, a period characterised by heightened inflation.
The IED is built using direct data contributions from the majority of insurers operating in the territories PERILS monitors. The exposure figures are presented at the CRESTA zone level and categorised by line of business and coverage type, reflecting the in-force status as of January 1, 2025.
The database is primarily used in catastrophe risk modelling, enabling insurers and reinsurers to better evaluate market risk exposures. It is also instrumental in benchmarking a company’s relative market position and understanding asset vulnerability when combined with event loss data.
PERILS CEO Christoph Oehy highlighted the increased industry demand for detailed SCS data. “There has been growing demand from re/insurers for PERILS to include the severe convective storm perils in our exposure database following multi-billion-dollar loss events in Germany, France, and Italy in recent years,” he said.
He added that this marks the first occasion where systematically collected motor portfolio data - particularly vulnerable to hail during SCS events - has been made publicly available on a market-wide scale.
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