Figure 8-5: Global insured
natural catastrophe losses (right-hand scale) vs. property/casualty premium income
(left-hand scale), using a 5-year running mean. Global losses are from Munich
Re (2000) and premiums from Swiss Re (1999b and earlier years). Note that these
data include only major weather-related losses (approximately half of total weather-related
losses). Premiums include considerable revenues (and associated reserves and surplus,
not usable to pay catastrophe losses) from non-weather-related business segments
and from self-insurers. The numbers generally include "captive" self-insurers
but not the less-formal types of self-insurance. Exposure—measured as the
ratio of premiums to losses—increased by a factor of 2.9 between the endpoints
and by 5.2 in the worst single year (1993) within this time interval.
