Risk and the public balance sheet in Asia: a work in progress
While there are natural catastrophes all over the world, Asia is a unique confluence of people and perils. More than half of the world’s population lives in Eastern, Southern and Southeast Asia. The region hosts more than 1.6 billion urban inhabitants and seven of the world’s top ten most-populated cities. It is also home to every major disaster—from cyclone to tsunami—and has experienced some of the world’s largest catastrophes based on economic loss. Many risks remain uninsured as insurance penetration continues to lag well below global averages. Over the past 25 years, six of the top ten earthquakes based on economic loss have originated in Asia, generating over $460 billion of loss. Only four percent of the loss was insured. Similarly, five of the top ten flood events contributed nearly $100 billion of loss, with only 17 percent insured.
