Kathmandu. The year 2025 has proved to be the most challenging year for the Asia-Pacific region in terms of natural disasters.
According to a recent press release issued by the Munich Re, the global reinsurance group, the sector has suffered a total economic loss of about $73 billion due to natural disasters. That’s more than the 10-year average of $66 billion.
Floods in northeast China caused $5.8 billion in damages, of which insurance accounted for less than $500 million. Similarly, the earthquake in Myanmar also caused huge loss of life and property.
The cyclone, which developed in the Indian Ocean in late November, caused devastation, especially in Sri Lanka and India. It caused nearly $4 billion in damage and killed more than 650 people. Floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains in Sri Lanka have disrupted normal life.
For the first time in history, Cyclone Senyaru, which formed near the equator in the Malacca Strait, brought heavy rains to Indonesia’s Sumatra and Malaysia. More than 1,000 people died in the disaster.
The year 2025 was a historically expensive year for Australia. February’s Hurricane Alfred, the May floods, and October-November’s severe hailstorms caused the second-worst economic damage since 1980.
This data is a serious warning for the South Asian country Nepal. Less than 5 percent of insurance penetration, especially in low-income countries, poses a major challenge to post-disaster recovery. Of the total losses in the sector, only $9 billion, or about 12 percent, is covered by insurance.
In Nepal too, the access of insurance to agriculture and infrastructure is very low. As statistics show, the absence of insurance puts a huge burden on the national economy directly after a disaster. Storms like Cyclone Senyaru in places never seen before confirm the increased uncertainty of the weather. It has further warned of the risk of flash floods and landslides in the mountainous and hilly areas of Nepal.
