Natural catastrophe losses fell last year and were skewed towards Europe and Asia rather than the US, with Germany registering the costliest insurance event.

Aon Benfield says natural disasters caused insured losses of $US45 billion ($51.15 billion), the lowest since 2009 and 22% below the 10-year average.

“In a reversal of 2012, the largest global events were heavily concentrated in Europe and Asia rather than in the US,” Aon subsidiary Impact Forecasting said in an annual review.

But although the US incurred only 16% of the $US192 billion ($218.25 billion) global economic loss, high insurance penetration meant it recorded 45% of all insured losses.

Flooding accounted for 35% of all economic losses, with events in Europe, Indonesia, the Philippines, China and Australia.

Aon says European flooding in May and June was last year’s costliest event, with an insured loss of $US5.3 billion ($6.02 billion).

Meanwhile, Munich Re estimates the insurance bill from the June floods to be $US3 billion ($3.4 billion) and says the single costliest event was Germany’s mid-year hailstorm, which caused an insurance loss of $US4.1 billion ($4.66 billion).

It calculates global natural catastrophe losses to be $US125 billion ($142.09 billion) and insured losses at $US31 billion ($35.24 billion), down 32% and 45% respectively.

Munich Re director Torsten Jeworrek says improved flood defences in Germany demonstrated the value of mitigation, saving Dresden city centre and Hamburg from major losses.

Super Typhoon Haiyan was last year’s deadliest catastrophe, killing more than 6000 people in the Philippines and Vietnam, with an estimated insured loss of $US1.5 billion ($1.7 billion).

Munich Re and Willis Re last month partnered with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction to develop catastrophe insurance for the Philippines that will operate through local governments and pay out on pre-agreed triggers such as rainfall or wind speed.