July’s Droughts, Fires Caused Billions of Dollars in Economic Damage: Impact Forecasting

August 9, 2018

For many of July’s global natural disasters, it was all about drought and wildfires, according to the latest update from Aon’s Impact Forecasting.

What the report found: Many countries dealt with worsening droughts and wildfires, trends that had significant impact financially on everything from agriculture to forestry, water management and fisheries industries. Impact Forecasting didn’t put a precise number yet on economic losses because some events are still ongoing, but it noted that preliminary aggregated loss estimates surpass $4 billion in Northern Europe alone.

“Nearly every major continent recorded some type of peril impact that will lead to a major cost to agricultural interests,” Michal Lorinc, an analyst with Impact Forecasting’s Catastrophe Insight team, said in prepared remarks. “In Northern Europe alone, the cost to local farming interests is expected to result in a multibillion-dollar loss in harvest output. All eyes are on the looming possibility of an El Nino return by the end of the year, which could exacerbate these types of impacts.”

Among the report’s findings:

Beyond fires and droughts, flooding and historic rainfall also caused plenty of trouble. Among the highlights:

Source: Aon/Impact Forecasting