A study by Munich RE, a German reinsurance company specialising in large-scale risk coverage worldwide, revealed that less than one fifth of the damage caused by natural disasters in Africa in 2025 was insured and that in Mozambique, one of the continent’s most affected countries, virtually none of the losses had insurance protection.
The study comes at a time when Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Logistics stated in the United Arab Emirates that the country has stood out in the region for its capacity to mitigate and reduce the negative impacts of extreme climatic events, with a particular focus on reducing human losses.
According to the report released on Tuesday, 13 January, natural disasters caused global damages estimated at 224 billion US dollars in 2025, a figure 39% lower than that recorded the previous year — a result the authors attribute to “pure luck”.
In the African context, the document indicates that natural disasters resulted in losses of approximately 3 billion US dollars, stressing that less than one fifth of this amount was effectively covered by insurance.
The report further notes that more than half of the damage recorded in Africa was caused by three cyclones, explaining that “one hit the French island of Réunion in February and the other two cyclones affected Madagascar and Mozambique in January and March” of 2025. In the same document, the authors detail that “almost half of the 900 million US dollars in losses in Réunion were insured, while virtually none of the losses in Mozambique were” insured, highlighting the country’s high vulnerability to extreme climatic events.
Munich RE also warned of the growing impact of floods, severe storms and wildfires on recorded losses and damages, noting that “scientists broadly agree that such natural disasters are becoming more severe and more frequent in many parts of the world”.
In human terms, the German company reported that natural disasters claimed around 17.2 thousand lives worldwide in 2025, well above the 11 thousand recorded the previous year, despite material losses being lower.
The report also recalls that in 2024 global damages reached 368 billion US dollars, of which 147 billion were insured, stressing that the improvement seen in 2025 was due to “pure luck”, as “no hurricane made landfall in the United States of America”, despite the occurrence of several severe storms in the country.
Source: Lusa
