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Insured wildfire losses worldwide, 1990–2025

0510152025303540450.81991–2000avg1.22001–2010avg1.82011–2015avg3.520161620172020181.5201913202052021220226.5202322024422025■ Insured losses (USD bn, nominal) ╌ Linear trend

Source: Swiss Re Institute sigma 1/2026; Munich Re NatCatSERVICE (H1 2025 and 2025 releases); Aon Climate & Catastrophe Insight 2024/2026; Insurance Information Institute. Annual values are approximate, nominal USD, compiled from these reports.

What the curve says

  • Through the 1990s and 2000s, insured wildfire losses were about $1 bn a year worldwide
  • Since 2016 there has been a multi-billion-dollar wildfire year almost every year: Fort McMurray, Tubbs/Thomas, Camp, the 2020 California complexes, Lahaina
  • 2025: Palisades and Eaton — $40 bn insured in one week in Los Angeles
  • Insurers are withdrawing from California; agencies are buying aircraft. The gap is suppression capacity.