The January wildfires in Los Angeles were the defining events of 2025. Combined, they caused USD 40 billion in insured losses, a record for the wildfire peril. Strong Santa Ana winds, drought conditions, dense development and ample fuel drove destruction in one of the highest-value wildland-urban interfaces (WUI) in the US. Nearly three times as many structures were lost in 2025 as the recent California average, even though the total burned area in the state trailed the ten-year average. 

Europe experienced an intense fire season in Spain, Italy and Greece, but wildfire has yet to generate a billion-dollar insured loss on the continent. For the third consecutive year, severe convective storms generated more than USD 50 billion in insured losses globally. In the US, urban expansion in hail-prone regions and higher reconstruction costs – still 37% above pre-COVID levels – contributed to elevated losses. Europe also saw intense hail, though storms in 2025 often struck areas with lower exposure. In Australia, a Brisbane hailstorm caused USD 1.8 billion in insured losses, the country’s second-costliest severe convective storm event. 

Global insured flood losses were USD 3.4 billion, below the five-year average despite major events in Southeast Asia and the US. A late-season monsoon flood in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia caused at least USD 11 billion in economic damage. Cyclone Ditwah alone resulted in more than USD 4 billion in economic losses in Sri Lanka. 

While no hurricanes made landfall in the US, Category 5 Hurricane Melissa barrelled through the Caribbean in October, becoming Jamaica’s costliest catastrophe on record. It caused total losses of around USD 8.8 billion, with only a fraction insured despite the country’s relatively high level of preparedness.

In Myanmar, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake led to around 3 900 deaths and USD 11 billion in economic losses, with limited insured coverage. Neighbouring Thailand was also impacted, suffering insured losses of USD 1.5 billion, with Bangkok built on a soft-sediment basin that amplified shaking. 

Taken together, the events of 2025, while producing insured losses that were lower than the long-term trend would imply, reflect a continuing trend: expanding exposure, as well as intensifying hazards and vulnerability of assets, drive significant catastrophe losses even in years when the most extreme peak-peril events fail to materialise.