The devastating Los Angeles wildfires in 2025 and U.S. insured catastrophe losses of more than $45 billion for the third consecutive year helped push global economic losses from catastrophes to $224 billion, a report from Moody’s shows.
In a year with no U.S. hurricane landfalls, catastrophe losses were driven by secondary perils. Wildfires and severe convective storms now account for the bulk of insured losses, redefining the risk profiles of insurers, according to Moody’s.
“So-called ‘secondary’ perils—including wildfires and severe convective storms —dominated the insured loss landscape in 2025, underscoring the view that these non-peak