By Antonia Di Lorenzo 
 

Munich Re AG (MUV2.XE) said Tuesday that insured losses from natural disasters were below the long-term average in the first half of the year, due to low insurance penetration in many of the affected countries.

The German reinsurer said that insured losses for the industry totaled about $15 billion, compared with $17 billion in the same period a year earlier. The long-term average is $18 billion.

Total losses--insured and uninsured--from natural disasters were $42 billion, compared with $33 billion a year ago.

Thunderstorms with tornadoes in the Midwestern U.S. caused overall losses of $3.3 billion, of which $2.5 billion were insured.

Cyclone Idai, which hit Mozambique, Malawi, Zimbabwe and South Africa in March, was the deadliest disaster, killing more than 1,000 people. The cyclone caused overall losses in Mozambique and neighboring countries of $2 billion. The loss in Mozambique is equivalent to about one-tenth of the country's gross domestic product.

"Almost nothing was insured, so that very few of the people affected were able to obtain prompt financial assistance for the loss of their belongings," he added.

 

Write to Antonia Di Lorenzo at antonia.dilorenzo@wsj.com; @AntoniaDL89

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 30, 2019 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)

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