India's total insured losses at $1 bn in 2015: Swiss Re

MUMBAI: Even as the country's total economic losses from natural and man-made disasters exceeded $6.2 billion in 2015, the total insured losses were at just $1 billion, says a report.

According to a sigma study by Swiss Re, total economic losses from all disasters, including natural and man-made events, exceeded $6.2 billion or 6.8 per cent of the global losses in 2015.

However, it was down from $13.4 billion or 11.9 per cent of global losses in 2014, it added.

In India, uninsured losses from all catastrophes and man-made disasters were 84 per cent of the total losses in 2015, down from 93 per cent in 2014.

Total insured losses in India were $1 billion, up from $971 million the year before.

There were 25 catastrophic events in India last year, up from 20 in 2014, including the severe flash floods in Chennai in November that caused an estimated loss of $2.2 billion.

Insured losses were estimated at around $755 million, making these floods the second costliest insurance event in the country, according to sigma records.

Although the protection gap was smaller last year than in 2014, it was still very high relative to global and regional standards, the report pointed out.

The global protection gap was around 60 per cent in 2015, down from 68 per cent in 2014.

In Asia, the gap was at 81 per cent in 2015, down from 90 per cent in 2014.

The Swiss Re Group is a wholesale provider of reinsurance, insurance and other insurance-based forms of risk transfer.