Reinsurance broker Gallagher Re has estimated that preliminary total insured losses for Q1’25 totalled at least $56 billion, marking the costliest first quarter for the private insurance market and government-sponsored insurance entities since 2011, and 176% higher than the Q1 decadal average of $20 billion (2015–2024).
Gallagher Re noted that while the elevated early-year insured losses remain manageable for the re/insurance industry, they signal a costly start to the year, with the historically peak natural catastrophe months still ahead.
The devastating Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January accounted for $40 billion (71%) of the estimated insured losses.
The global wildfire loss total of more than $40 billion not only marks the costliest Q1 on record for this peril, but also represents the most expensive aggregated quarter or full calendar year wildfire loss ever recorded by the industry.
The Palisades Fire alone is estimated to have caused $23 billion in insured losses—surpassing the insured total of any full year of wildfire losses on record.
Only four other global events in Q1 resulted in billion-dollar losses for insurers, all categorised as US SCS: the mid-March tornado outbreak ($5.4 billion), a late March outbreak ($1.2 billion), a mid-February storm complex where SCS was the dominant driver ($1.1 billion), and an early March event ($1 billion).
The costliest non-US events included Storm Eowyn (Ireland’s most expensive windstorm), the Tainan City earthquake (Taiwan), and Cyclone Alfred (Australia), each generating insured losses in the hundreds of millions.
Additionally, Gallagher Re reported that preliminary total economic losses for Q1’25 reached $110 billion, making it the third-costliest Q1 since 2000 and significantly exceeding the recent 10-year Q1 average of $55 billion.
The Palisades and Eaton fires resulted in a combined economic loss of at least $65 billion, accounting for nearly 60% of global economic losses in Q1 alone.
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