The devastating floods in western Germany this week could become one of the most expensive natural catastrophes in the country in the past 20 years, past industry data shows.

German insurance industry association GDV plans to give its first estimate of the damage next week. The overall damage could be considerably higher than the insured damage as the industry says only around 45% of buildings are insured against floods and heavy rain. read more

Here is a rundown of the most expensive natural catastrophes in Germany since 2002 (insured damage in property and casualty as well as auto insurance):

Event Date insured damage*
August floods, among other at the Oder river August 2002 4.5 bln euros
Storm Kyrill January 2007 3.4 bln euros
Hailstorms Andreas and Bernd July 2013 3.1 bln euros
June floods, among other in Bavaria and Saxony June 2013 2.1 bln euros
Hailstorms, particularly in southern Germany June 2021 1.7 bln euros**
Storm Jeanett October 2002 1.4 bln euros
Hailstorm Hilal May 2008 1.3 bln euros
Storm Friederike January 2018 1.15 bln euros

* in 2019 prices

** according to preliminary estimates

And here is a rundown of the most expensive natural catastrophe years since 1973 (insured damage in property and casualty as well as auto insurance):

Year Damage* Major natcat events
1990 11.1 bln euros Storms Vivian and Wiebke
2002 10.9 bln euros Floods at the Oder river
2013 9.3 bln euros Hail, June floods
1984 8.0 bln euros Hail in Munich
1976 6.5 bln euros Storm surge at the North Sea and the Elbe river
2007 6.2 bln euros Storm Kyrill

* in 2019 prices

Source: German insurance industry association GDV

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