<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/oct/07/at-45bn-each-year-extreme-weather-is-costing-australia-three-times-as-much-compared-with-1990s-insurers-say>
"The costs of extreme weather events such as floods, bushfires and storms have
nearly tripled in Australia since the 1990s, insurers have warned, with poorer
communities disproportionately burdened.
The climate crisis, ageing infrastructure and growing populations in
increasingly affected regions have left the country more vulnerable, according
to a report released on Tuesday by the Insurance Council of Australia.
In the 2020s, extreme weather has been responsible for $4.5bn in claims
annually on average, the ICA report said. The three events declared as
insurance catastrophes in 2025 alone generated nearly $2bn in claims, most of
which related to housing.
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred cost households and businesses over $1.4bn in
claims, while flooding in north Queensland in January and in NSW’s mid-north
coast and Hunter region in May made up the remaining $540m.
Smaller events not declared catastrophes generated millions more in insurance
claims.
“While Australia has always faced extreme weather, the accelerating losses per
person and their compounding impact on communities is costly and ongoing,” the
council’s chief executive, Andrew Hall, said.
“Each decade is costlier than the last.”
The report found economic losses from extreme weather events almost tripled
over the last three decades even after stripping out inflation, citing analysis
from multinational insurance firm Munich Re."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
