ANZ Face Rising NatCat Risks: Swiss Re CEO on USD 137B Global Losses and Local Resilience

In this video, Trent Thompson, CEO of Swiss Re Australia & New Zealand, shares key insights from Swiss Re’s latest Natural Catastrophe Losses report. While Australia and New Zealand may have experienced a relatively quiet year for large-scale disasters, global insured losses in 2024 still reached USD 137 billion, driven largely by secondary perils such as severe convective storms and wildfires. Trent explains why the risk for the region has not diminished, as extreme weather events become more frequent and localised impacts — including the heavy rainfall in New Zealand in early 2023 and the estimated AUD 2.5 billion in losses from Cyclone Alfred — continue to highlight growing vulnerabilities.

He addresses the increasing challenges around the affordability and availability of insurance in high-risk areas. With ongoing urbanisation, population growth and climate change amplifying exposure levels, long-term resilience needs to be embedded into planning frameworks rather than added as an afterthought. The video outlines the need for stronger building codes, more strategic land-use planning, better flood protection and wider community-level adaptation. Trent also highlights the role of public–private collaboration, such as the Hazards Insurance Partnership, in improving disaster preparedness and societal resilience.

This message is essential for insurers, reinsurers, policymakers and communities across Australia and New Zealand as they face a more complex and volatile natural catastrophe landscape.

Get more figures and insights by downloading the latest NatCat sigma: www.swissre.com/swissre/risk-knowledge/natcat-2025.html

Swiss Re
The Swiss Re Group is one of the world’s leading providers of reinsurance, insurance and other forms of insurance-based risk transfer, working to make the world more resilient. It anticipates and manages risk – from natural catastrophes to climate change, from ageing populations to cyber crime. The aim of the Swiss Re Group is to enable society to thrive and progress, creating new opportunities and solutions for its clients. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1863, the Swiss Re Group operates through a network of around 80 offices globally.