2011：天災之年
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????慕尼黑再保險公司（Munich Re）本周二發(fā)表上半年業(yè)績評論時提出，盡管時間剛剛過半，今年已經(jīng)成為有記錄以來自然災害損失最高的年份。2011年前6個月?lián)p失金額達2，650億美元——已然超過2005年這一前天災之年全年2，200億美元的記錄。 |
????Halfway through, this year is already the costliest on record for natural catastrophes, insurer Munich Re said Tuesday in its first-half review. Losses hit $265 billion in the first six months of 2011 – which exceeds the $220 billion in losses in the biggest previous year for natural disasters, 2005. |
不幸的是，類似事件還會發(fā)生
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????其中，日本3月份的地震及海嘯造成了15，000人死亡，經(jīng)濟損失高達2，100億美元，成為了今年災害損失來源的罪魁禍首。這場災難比2005年“卡特里娜”颶風（Katrina）造成的1，250億美元的經(jīng)濟損失更為慘重，同時創(chuàng)造了歷史新高。 ????日本地震引起的損失同樣導致了保險業(yè)利潤的欠收。慕尼黑再保險公司（Munich Re）稱，今年上半年保損飆升至600億美元——這一數(shù)字是過去10年年均保損的5倍。 ????4月，伯克希爾?哈撒韋公司（Berkshire Hathaway，BRKA）表示，鑒于日本震災及其他災害（主要發(fā)生在亞洲），公司今年將發(fā)表保險承保虧損報告。這是該公司近10年來第一次發(fā)表類似報告。該公司去年還曾重金押注過慕尼黑再保險公司。 ????盡管如此，日本震災（對保險業(yè)）造成的損失還是要低于卡特里娜颶風。慕尼黑再保險公司說，3月震災引起的保險索賠達300億美元，相比而言，官方統(tǒng)計卡特里娜颶風所引發(fā)的索賠高達440億美元。另外，10年前由世貿(mào)中心遭恐怖襲擊造成的索賠估計也在400億美元上下。 ????問題是現(xiàn)在根本無法預計今年的災損將嚴重到什么程度。慕尼黑再保險公司說，通常“前半年的災損要比后半年的低，因為后半年將是北大西洋和西北太平洋颶風和臺風頻發(fā)的時段”。看來接下來的幾個月注定是多事之秋，而且還是多災多難。 |
????Most of the losses this year stem from the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which caused more than 15,000 deaths and accounted for $210 billion in economic losses. That is another record, beating out the $125 billion in losses caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. ????Losses tied to the quake have already taken a toll on insurance industry profits. First-half insured losses hit $60 billion, Munich Re said – five times the annual average over the past decade. ????Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA), which last year took a big stake in Munich Re, said in April that it would likely report an insurance underwriting loss this year for the first time in almost a decade, thanks to the Japanese disaster and other calamities, mostly in Asia. ????quake stands to be less costly than Katrina. Munich Re said insured claims from March's disaster stand at around $30 billion, compared with the $44 billion the government estimated for Katrina. Insured losses on the World Trade Center terrorist attacks a decade ago have been estimated at around $40 billion, by comparison. ????The question now is how high this year's record toll might rise. Munich said first-half losses "are generally lower than second-half losses, which are often affected by hurricanes in the North Atlantic and typhoons in the Northwest Pacific." Just another way in which the coming months promise to be eventful, and not in a good way. |
